Cry Wolf
by SilverSkin
Summary: Miss Weasley, our relationship has become what I feel to be less than professional. He said coldy from his desk. Quietly she stood. I don't care about being professional professor. Please R&R. Rated for later chaps.GWSS
1. But nothing Miss Weasley

Disclaimer: In No way is J.K's stuff mine, I will only state this at the beginning of the fic because 1) it is pretty obvious I am not J.K or my writing would have an english accent (ha ha) and 2) if it were mine I'd be vacationing somewhere expensive and not sitting in my cold basement to write this, so despite that rant, please enjoy:)

**Cry Wolf**

**I: _"But Nothing Miss Weasley."_**

Crawling onto the large feather mattress and pulling the blankets up over herself before snuggling into the warmth of the large bed, Ginny settled and stared through the open hangings around her bed and out through the window at the full, harvest yellowed moon. With a sigh she rolled over and buried her face into the pillow.

Hogwarts was going to be so different this year, her brother Ron and her friend Hermione had not come back for their seventh year, but had gone to search for the Horcruxes with Harry. _Harry_, just the though of his very name made her sad. She hadn't seen Harry, _her Harry_, in nearly a month, and what was even worse was his refusing to be with her. Didn't he understand that she didn't care about the danger of him being Voldemort's number one target? She only wanted to be with him.

Shaking her head she drove those thoughts from her mind, pitying her situation and feeling glum was not the way to start off this school year. She should be happy that she would get to see her other friends like Luna and Neville for a whole extra year, as well as some of the girls in her dorm like Anna-Rose, who she talked to every now and then. Managing a small smile Ginny closed her eyes and fell into a light, half sleep like state.

**

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**

"What subjects are you taking this year Ginny?" Anna-Rose asked as she accompanied Ginny into the crowded great hall. The students around them were busy chatting and gossiping about who knows what while they waited for their time tables.

"Same subjects that I took last year. Why would they change?" Ginny asked confused, they were allowed to drop subjects that weren't core subjects, such as divination, they weren't allowed to actually change their subjects between fifth and sixth year.

"Well I know they don't change but I was just wondering if you'd dropped any. I dropped Divination because I was so horribly bad at it." She commented simply.

"Oh, okay." Ginny commented before sitting down and pulling some toast towards her. Anna-Rose waved a quick good bye before going to sit with her friends in a younger year. Sighing Ginny ate in silence as she waited for McGonagall to come around with the timetables. Her thoughts drifted back to last nights feast and the speech Dumbledore had given about dangerous times and the need to unite as a whole school and not just four houses. She smiled to herself, she wished it could be so, but Slytherins would never unite with the Gryffindors, and vice versa.

"Miss Weasley, are you going to take this time table from me or shall I stand here with my arm out all day?" McGonagall's Irish voice asked irritably.

"Sorry Professor." Ginny said after starting from surprise. She took the time table from the transfiguration teacher blushing slightly. Looking it over she gave an inward groan when she saw what it was that she had first, potions with the Slytherins. "Great way to start a year." She mumbled to herself before gathering her things and leaving the hall. She was not going to be late, especially as Snape was not at the staff table and was most probably eagerly awaiting those who dawdled.

**

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**

Shivering in the chilly dungeons, Ginny took a table at the back of the classroom and waited. Just as she thought, when she had arrived Snape had been standing outside his classroom door as if he were a medieval knight that had been posted there.

"_In."_ He had said strictly when she had paused to watch him. Rolling her eyes so that he couldn't see she had gone in and settle herself_ far_ away from the Slytherins.

Eventually, after all of the students had arrived and Snape had yelled and awarded detentions to more than a few who had arrived late, the darkly clad potions professor had swept into the class room and closed the door behind him.

"This year," He began, silencing the class immediately, "I will not be taking any drivel from any of you. You are all sixth years now and must prepare for the N.E.W.T.S that you will be taking next year, if you all, if not any of you, prove smart enough." He sneered. The class groaned at what sounded like a promise of much more extra work and a much stricter Snape but he silenced them all with a glare. "That is exactly the drivel I am speaking of." He warned before marching to his desk and picking up a pile of manila envelopes. "When I call your name come collect an Envelope, Miss Awlyr." He instructed.

Ginny's dorm mate Anna-Rose got up looking exasperated and went to collect her envelope.

"Mr. Binnetly." Snape called the next name on the list. Ginny sighed as a kid in Slytherin who's first name was Barry went to collect his envelope. Twirling her red hair around her finger she waited while the whole class proceeded before her. Being a Weasley she was most always last.

"Miss Weasley." Snape drawled as he held out the last envelope for her to take. Slowly she got up. "I do not have all day Miss. Weasley." He snapped. Ginny rolled her eyes and proceeded to the front of the room. She grasped the envelope but Snape did not let go.

"Five points from Gryffindor for rolling your eyes at a professor." He said harshly before letting go. Ginny sighed and returned to her seat.

"These envelopes," Snape began as he went to sit behind his desk. "Contain a research project that each of you will be required to complete and hand in first day back after Christmas break." This received another set of groans from the entire class. "A point from each of you." He snapped. "I should not have to tell you twice that I will not put up with this drivel. You all have more than four months to complete this project which is more than sufficient as it is only meant to be worked on twice a week. Now, open your envelopes and read the project over, you have between now and the end of class to go over it and then come to me if there are any issues." He said in an end of discussion tone.

There was a rustling of papers as everyone opened their envelopes and took out the parchment inside. Ginny stared down at the project outline in shock. The 'outline' was nearly six pages long and required her to do a range of things from completing essays on three different potions, explaining their properties, brewing techniques, anything special about their timing, a complete and full summary of their ingredients and their magical properties both alone and when combined with the other ingredients in the potion, down to complete a list with explanations of the major mistakes made while brewing the potion and p_lus_ the list even went on from there.

"Professor!" Barry spoke up from his corner of the room.

"What Mr. Binnetly, and next time do not yell across the room." Snape answered. Ginny huffed, if anyone in Gryffindor had done that they would have lost points.

"Sorry sir, but how come everyone's project is different?" He asked. Snape scowled and dropped the quill he had been writing with.

"Because, Mr. Binnetly, this project is designed to help each student reach an improved understanding of the three things that they did worst on last year. Clearly not every student is the same, so every student cannot have the same project if they wish to improve." He answered.

"Oh." Barry mumbled before turning back to his envelope. Ginny scowled at the complexity of the project before flipping to the back page to see what three potions it was that she would have to complete all of this 'important' work about. She nearly screamed with exasperation. The list read:

_1) Draught of Peace _

_2) Strengthening Solutions _

_3) Confusing and Befuddlement Draughts. _

Those three potions had been hell last year and now she was supposed to do them all over again? There was no way she was going to be able to do this, Hermione wasn't even here to help her this year, and she'd barely managed to not screw them up so badly last year because of Hermione.

"Class is about to end, so I suggest you pack your things. I will add that there will be no class time permitted to use towards working on this project so do not put it off." Snape said warningly. Ginny quickly packed her things and headed towards the front of the class.

"Yes Miss Weasley?" Snape asked with a raised eyebrow as she stood in front of his desk.

"I- well- I don't think-"

"Out with it or you'll lose your question to the bell."

"I can't do this project." She said quickly.

"What do you mean you can't do this project? Either you will or you will fail." Snape said. Ginny could almost hear his already non existent patience thinning.

"Well, these potions, last year the only reason I got the mark I got on them was because Hermione helped me, I don't think I will be able to do these without her help." Ginny explained quickly, knowing that would not make the professor any happier.

Snape sneered, "You mean to tell me, Miss Weasley, that even with the help of little miss know it all you could not pass these potions?"

"It's only with her help that I got the mark I did." Ginny repeated.

"I would hardly consider a _D_ a _mark_ Miss Weasley."

"It is still better than receiving a _T_ professor." She replied quickly. Snape's lip curled.

"Fine Miss Weasley, if it is help you need you can come to me on Tuesday and Friday nights for tutoring." He snapped quickly. "The only time I am offering this is between six and eight pm, if you are late I will assume that you are not coming and the office will be locked so I advise you not to do so." Ginny's mouth fell open in surprise.

"But professor, I was just hoping that maybe you could give me something easier, that way I wouldn't-"

"_But_ nothing Miss Weasley." Snape interrupted. "You can either take this tutoring and complete the project or you _will_ fail, I will not give you a project easier than everyone else's just because you are incapable of completing your assignment." He sneered. Ginny ignored the Slytherins that were snickering behind her.

"I'll see you at six tomorrow then." She said spitefully.

"Do not be late, I have more important things to do with my time than wait for you, and I warn you I will not wait while you dawdle." Snape scowled at her as the bell rang. "I expect to see a brief rough outline by the middle of the month!" He shouted to the class as they rushed towards the door. "Leave Miss Weasley." He said to a frozen Ginny who scoffed and left the room.

"Five points from Gryffindor." Snape said to the closed door before turning back to his paperwork.

**

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HI! I'm feeling really good about this fic, and do not worry, I have the entire story already planned out so it will not unexplainably end like An Imposter did. Anyways, please, please, please read and review, this is going to be my first attempt at a romance fic, I realize it is not very romantic right now but it will get better (wink) Thanks for reading.

-Darth Depravious.


	2. Nine Books For Starters

**Cry Wolf**

**II: Nine Books for Starters.**

Groaning and rolling over in her bed Ginny covered her eyes and wondered why she did not close the curtains to keep the sun out of her face. Rubbing the sleep sand off of her eye lids she recalled the dream that she had been having.

_She had been in one of the long corridors of the dungeons, it was dark and cold, and not knowing where she was she had rushed towards what way she thought was out. As she rounded a corner she had spotted someone round the corner in front of her. Hopeful that they could show her the way out she ran after them. Rounding the next corner she caught just a glimpse of the person before they two broke into a run and rounded the corner in front of her, but she had recognized them._

"_Harry!" She had shouted before breaking into a full out run and trailing after him, rounding the corner he was brought into sight, he was no longer running but facing her. She ran towards him but he never came any closer. "Harry! Help me!" She had pleaded but Harry had shaken his head with closed eyes._

"_No Ginny, No." He had said, "No, no, no, no, no…" over and over, "No, no, no…" Had echoed off the walls and smothered her ears until she thought that she would cry with desperation._

"_Harry please!" She pleaded._

"_No Ginny." Harry repeated. "No, no, no." echo, echo, echo… Ginny ran towards him with her arms outstretched but Harry fell through a hole in the floor and in an instant the dark looming form of Snape had shot out of the same hole and grabbed her by the shoulders._

"_He will not come back to you!" He had said shaking her, to which Ginny had cried._

Shuddering at the thought of dreaming of the greasy potions master Ginny crawled out of bed, collected some school clothes and headed towards the dorm adjacent bathrooms. Feeling dirty she shed her bed clothes and stepped into the shower.

Jumping at the first shock of cold water before it turned warm she reached for the shampoo and then began washing her hair.

Ten minutes later the bathroom was full of steam, Ginny was dressed in her school clothes and ready to reluctantly start her day. Despite her efforts, her dream crept back into her mind as she went back into the dorm to collect her school bag. Heaving a sigh she forced herself not to think of him, _"That is only purposefully asking for self misery." _She told herself. _"There is no way a stupid dream can tell the truth about the future." _This thought seeming to reassure her, Ginny nodded and headed down the staircase to the common room and then out through the portrait hole.

**

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**

"You're up early this morning." Anna-Rose commented as she sat down next to Ginny at the house table to get some breakfast.

"I couldn't sleep." Ginny lied, she didn't want to get into the details about the dream.

"I guess you wouldn't be able to, I'm not surprised. I certainly wouldn't be able to sleep either if I had been forced into taking _extra _classes with Snape." Anna-Rose said referring to yesterday's potions class events. Ginny dropped her toast. With a groan she collapsed onto the table and began beating her forehead against it.

"What's the problem?" Anna-Rose asked as she observed the odd spectacle.

"I forgot about the tutoring!" Ginny said through the sleeves of her sweater.

"So?" Anna-Rose asked.

"So? So he's gonna kill me if I don't _at least_ bring some books with me to use!" She pointed out.

"Oh, yea I suppose he would. Well, at least you have all lunch break and before the meeting to go find some." Anna-Rose replied with a shrug. Ginny lifted her head and glared.

"I'm not Hermione Anna-Rose; I don't know where every book in the library is kept! How will I ever find what I need in such a short span of time?" She wailed.

"I don't know but luck to you. Anyway, I've got to head off to charms, are you going to walk with me or are you going to scream into the table some more?" She asked.

"Fine, I'll come." Ginny said before standing and collecting her bag. "By the way, you've just been drafted into helping me find those books." She said angrily. Anna-Rose groaned before agreeing on the count that she didn't want her friend to come back in pieces for displeasing the potions master.

'_This will not be a good day.' _Ginny thought as she narrowly missed the trick step.

**

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**

The day, in fact, had been a horrible day. In charms Ginny had been so upset for forgetting about the tutoring that the teapot she had been charming to change into all the colours of the rainbow like a lava lamp, some sort of muggle thing Flitwick had explained to them, had shuddered and whistled shrilly for nearly ten minutes causing the class to clutch their ears until it had finally exploded and doused a Slytherin with boiling hot tea. But it had only been Barry Binnetly so no one had really cared.

At Lunch Anna-Rose and herself had scoured the Library for books about the three potions and only found the Advanced Potions book which she already owned. Desperate for something Ginny had bravely gone to Madame Pince who had told her that all the books about potions as difficult as those were kept in the restricted section, and that if she did not have a not from a teacher allowing her to search there she was to leave. So Ginny and Anna-Rose had left the library, cursing Madame Pince under their breath before heading to transfiguration.

"At least you don't have an _actual_ potions class today." Anna-Rose had pointed out.

"_Yea, whoopee." _

**

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**

"_Anna-Rose I am going to KILL you!" _Ginny snarled as she rounded a corner in the dungeon and raced faster towards Snape's office. Anna-Rose had struck up a lengthy conversation with Ginny and caused her to lose track of time. _'Shouldn't you be heading to the dungeons? You've got like… three minutes to get there' _She had eventually pointed out to which Ginny had cursed and leapt from her chair.

"_Thanks for **reminding** me!"_ She had growled with sarcasm. Anna-Rose had simply shrugged. Ginny deeply cared for her friend of course, but she was just so clueless sometimes!

Panting she rounded another corner and to her delight saw that Snape's office was there with the door open. Glancing at her watch she spotted that she was only four minutes late.

'Wouldn't wait for me indeed, what else does he have to do?' She thought, 'After all teaching is his job.' Slowing to a walk Ginny headed towards the doorway, intent on making a calm entrance so that the professor could not chastise her for more than being late. Her stomach sank as she saw him step out of the room and lock the door behind him.

"Wait professor, I'm here!" She said reluctantly. Snape turned from the doorway and glared at her before crossing his arms over his chest, watching her with a sneer.

"I thought that I had instructed you _not_ to be late." He said flatly.

"I'm sorry professor, but-"

"But nothing. Miss Weasley, there isn't any excuse besides incompetence for being late, now hurry inside." He instructed before unlocking his door and sweeping back into the office.

"Anna-Rose's incompetence. Not mine." Ginny mumbled to herself as she walked into the dimly lit room.

"What was that Miss Weasley?" Snape asked from his desk.

"Nothing. Just thinking out loud." She stated, and then added a "professor" when he wouldn't stop glaring.

"Well I expect all thoughts to be kept _inside_ your brain if you are capable of doing so. I also have work to do, so you are only to interrupt me if it is necessary." He said snidely.

"Yes sir." Ginny said before seating herself at the only table in the room.

"Miss. Weasley, why are you sitting all the way across the room?" Snape asked once she was situated.

"I am sitting here, because it is the only desk in the room and I intend to work on my project here." She replied, her tone biting.

"Do not speak to me in that manner or it will be detention. Did you not notice that I had cleared off the opposite side of my desk so that you could work there?" He asked as if it were obvious.

Ginny glanced at the opposite side of his desk which was indeed cleared off, but it was confusing, if he hated her so much, or at least seemed to, why would he want her working at his desk?

"Thank you professor but I would prefer to work back here." She said simply.

"Your preference is not an option, you will work up here. I do not want to interrupt my own work by getting up to answer your questions every two minutes." He snarled.

"Of course" Ginny sighed as she re-gathered her things and headed towards his desk. Now that she thought about it, it made perfect sense that the surly potions master, although obligated to help her because he was a teacher, would not go out of his own way to do so.

Fuming that Snape was being so difficult Ginny quickly took out her book and opened it to the page on her first potion, the draught of peace.

"Is that the only book that you brought with you?" Snape asked suddenly from across the table. Ginny clenched her teeth at the interruption.

"Yes, it was the only one I could find on such short notice."

"That book does not have information on anything beside the brewing instructions for the potions; it will hardly do any good." Snape said before turning back to his work, whatever that maybe.

"I'll just have to start with the brewing section then." Ginny said before turning back to her work. Snape dropped his quill.

"Miss Weasley, you cannot simply complete one section of this project before going on to the next, an outline must be completed to ensure that all of the information and essays relate to each other and interconnect, if you do not complete the project in this manner, as the outline stated, then you will most definitely receive a failing grade, and as consequence, fail the entire year." He said icily while tapping his finger in irritation. Ginny ground her teeth together at the interruption.

"Professor," She started, choosing her words carefully, "When I agreed to come here for tutoring, I was under the impression that _if _I had a question and _requested_ for help then you would help me. So far I haven't asked you a thing and you have not stopped interrupting me." Snape's lip curled at her boldness.

"Well it is clear that you do not know when you are in need of assistance, seeing as you have not even written anything down yet. You knew that you would be coming here tonight and you knew that I do not tolerate incompetence and therefore should have gathered the information you needed beforehand." At this he stood and Ginny flinched, thinking that perhaps he would strike her (Inwardly She knew that he wouldn't but he just seemed so imposing that it jumped into her mind as a real possibility.) But instead he walked away from the desk and towards a bookshelf at the back of the room, there he pulled down a few select books and brought them back to his desk. "These books should be enough to get you started, on Friday I suggest you come to my office prepared. Now get to work." He barked before sitting back down in his chair and retrieving his quill which looked to be a raven feather.

Ginny stared at the pile of eight, no nine books. _Enough to get her started?_ Just what did Snape expect for this project? Merlin's theory or something? But not daring to anger him again, she, defeated, selected a book and began to work on her outline for the draught of peace.

The rest of the two hours in the dungeons passed in silence, with only the determined scratching of her quill as she steadily worked and the angry scratching of his as, she had guessed, he marked papers.

"Mrs. Weasley, this tutoring session is over, I'm warning you that the books you are using are not to be taken with you and are in no way to leave this room. Now I suggest you head back to your dormitory before you're out after curfew." Snape instructed.

"Nearly ready." Ginny said as she took a few minutes and copied down the last of the paragraph she was taking notes on.

"I do not have all night Mrs. Weasley, I have rounds to do." Snape snapped, tapping his fingers with impatience as she wrote.

"You know professor; it would be a lot easier for me to work if you weren't constantly hovering over me." Ginny snapped back before closing the book with a snap.

Snape glowered at her from across the desk. 'Great I've done it, now I've got detention.' Ginny thought exasperatedly.

"Perhaps so Mrs. Weasley." Snape said angrily before standing.

'_That's it?'_ Ginny thought, watching as the potions master moved towards the door and then opened it.

"You'll be glad to hear that, because of you're lack of co-operation it is now past curfew. Ten points from Gryffindor for being outside of your house headquarters. Now, head back to your dormitory and don't let me catch you when I start my rounds or it will be detention." He said icily, knowing that he had the advantage.

"Yes professor." Ginny said before gathering her things and exiting the room, as she walked up the hall she marveled that she had not received detention for speaking to him so rudely.

'_Maybe he realizes that he pushed you to it.' _A voice in her mind suggested. Ginny laughed at herself, sure he hadn't given her detention, but he had still managed to dock house points. He always got back at a student somehow. But then again… maybe he wouldn't be so aggravating next time? Shaking her head and wondering why she thought that he would be any nicer to her Ginny headed up the staircase in the great hall and off towards the tower, with heavy eyelids she muttered the password to the fat lady (Toad slime) and then headed off to bed, intent on getting some deep sleep.

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I am extremely happy with this chapter! please tell me what you think. 


	3. Consequences for Insomnia

**Cry Wolf**

**II: Consequences of Insomnia **

Ginny tossed and turned in her bed before sitting up and groaning. For her it was one of those nights when, despite your best efforts, no matter how hard you try you just can't get to sleep. Glancing at the clock she spotted that it was just after midnight.

'_Have I really been awake that long?' _She asked her self before swinging her legs out of the bed and getting up from under the baking warm down covers. After stretching she hitched up her plaid flannel pajama pants and wandered over to the window. Pushing out on the pane of glass, she let the window swing open until a soft breeze of chilly midnight air played across her face and danced with her hair. Closing her eyes she breathed in a deep breath and wished she could be outside in the night where she could be fully refreshed by the cool winds.

"Mom, The heater's busted again, the house is freezing." Anna-Rose mumbled in her sleep before turning over in her bunk and shivering. Not wanting to wake her Ginny closed the window and went to the trunk at the end of her bed to fetch a coat. After all, why shouldn't she go outside? There was the risk of getting caught, but she couldn't sleep anyway, so why not go for a walk? Besides if she stayed here she'd only more than likely wake someone up, most likely Anna-Rose, and get yelled at.

Making up her mind, Ginny wrapped herself in the warm coat, slipped on her sneakers without bothering to put on socks, and headed for the portrait hole.

"_Where do you think you're going young lady?" _The fat lady hissed, trying not to wake the other portraits around her. Ginny ignored her and cautiously made her way down the hallway. _"You're lucky I don't like Filch or I'd tell him first thing, the nerve being out at this time, it's completely…" _She continued to rant but faded away from her hearing range as Ginny rounded a corner and headed down some stairs.

After a long trek, and many dodging behind statues to avoid people who weren't actually there Ginny finally made it to the great hall and out through the large oaken door. Strolling across the grounds Ginny absorbed the moonlit air and relished in the cool breeze that blew across her face. Feeling wide awake she wondered why she had even tried to sleep in the first place before giddy with energy she jogged off towards the lake.

Rounding around some trees with her arms spread out as if she could fly Ginny jumped over a small depression in the lawn before halting to admire the scene before her.

The lake, calm and dark, was smooth as glass, and reflected in it was every star in the sky as well as a large half moon that shadowed the one above it. It looked as if someone had painted a picture on a top half of paper and then before the paint could dry had folded it over creating a perfect double image. The beauty of it made Ginny's breath snag in her chest and a warm feeling fill her from head to toe.

'_I wish Harry could be here.' _She thought to herself, imagining his warm arms hugging her and then immediately wished she hadn't. A frown crept onto her face as all the happy feelings she had been filled with a moment before shriveled away and instead were taken over by feelings of anger and resentment.

"Why do I always think about him?" She asked herself angrily. "I'm just making myself more miserable!" She stomped her foot in frustration before bending to pick up a rock which she cast it into the lake and sent ripples flying across it, destroying the mirror painting that some giant hand had created. But when the painting began to reform Ginny suddenly found that she could not let it come back and began to throw more rocks into the lake, one after another until it looked as if someone was firing a rolling barrage into the waters, but still she didn't stop. She continued to throw rock after rock, moving when she ran out all the while cursing at Harry and venting her anger from the thoughts of rejection and stupid pride, not wanting to think of what could be, or what they would've done together in his last year, she hated the fact that he couldn't just stay with her or let him go with her, and she hated the fact that her sneakers had soaked through and with no socks her toes were now freezing. When she could finally throw no more rocks or think of anymore things to hate or curse she fell to her knees beside the lake, shivering with cold and breathing heavily. But she did not cry. She would not let herself cry for him anymore.

Suddenly a twig snapped and Ginny jumped, stifling a yelp. Searching wildly for the source of the sound she heard another twig break and a rustling of bushes.

'_It's coming from the forest.' _She realized, suddenly wishing that she had not left her tower but stayed in the warmth of her bed. Jumping to her feet she searched through her coat pockets, she needed her wand, but she didn't find it. She had left it on the nightstand beside her bed. Whimpering with fear, Ginny braced herself, ready to run as fast as she could.

The rustling of bushes and snapping of twigs grew louder before ceasing and transforming into the sound of feet padding across the grass. Ginny strained her eyes and tried to see what was coming towards her but it was still in the shadow of the forest and indistinguishable. After what seemed like an eternity of being locked in fear the padding footsteps rushed out of the shade of the forest and Ginny saw what had ventured onto the grounds.

The creature stopped and stared at her, as if surprised that it should meet her.

"_A wolf…" _Ginny muttered, a sense of awe overtaking her fear as she watched the animal. Its body was thin and muscled with thick matted black fur that was longer than that of other wolves. Its eyes were lightless and empty as it watched her over its long snout with calculation. Then as if waking from a dream the wolf pinned its ears back and growled, a low menacing rumble. Ginny jumped her awe disappearing and fear regaining it's foothold as she noticed the thick trailing clump of what looked like unicorn hair in its mouth.

'_But wolves aren't supposed to be able to catch unicorn's…' _She thought to herself but as the wolf's growl escalated to a snarl and it stepped towards her Ginny forgot all probabilities and supposal's and turned, tearing back towards the castle, she didn't want to be the animals next meal. If it could sink it's jaws into a unicorn then it would make short work of her.

The creature broke into a run behind her and Ginny ran faster. _'It's going to kill me, and no one will know.' _She thought, but to her surprise the wolf ran the opposite way along the edge of the forest and back into its shadows. Knowing that the wolf was gone but not daring to test her luck she didn't stop running and by the time she reached the tall wooden doors was completely out of breath.

Panting for several minutes while standing on the steps she kept a sharp eye on the forest until she felt she could sneak back to the tower without being caught. Rubbing her eyes at the sleep that had suddenly wanted to invade them she yawned and slipped back into the castle. Slowly trudging across the hall her wet sneakers squeaking Ginny stopped and took them off before continueing in bare feet. She began up the stairs and then froze when she spotted two yellow eyes staring at her.

Seated at the top of the railing, her mangy fur bristled and an angry look on her face was Mrs. Norris. The cat mewled at her and then turned around to go fetch her master. Ginny cursed, why, tonight of all nights, did Filch have to be patrolling the hallway that led to her dormitory? Quickly, she turned and watching her feet so that she would not trip raced down the stairs, checking back over her shoulder to make sure the caretaker was not in sight Ginny blindly set a path towards the dungeons and then ran into something solid.

"Damn pillar." She cursed as she fell onto her backside and dropped her shoes which made a dull 'clud' sound.. She could hear Filch crooning his cat somewhere in the upper hallway and knew she didn't have much time.

"I can assure you Miss. Weasley that I am not a pillar." A very icy voice sneered down at her. Ginny's stomach sank as she realized who she had just run into.

"Professor Snape, I-"

"Do you really have an excuse Mrs. Weasley? What is it, are all the upstairs toilets broken, and if so, why are your shoes wet?" He asked angrily. Ginny opened and closed her mouth many times as Snape watched her with crossed arms and a raised eyebrow.

"Are they this way my sweet?" A raspy voice asked from the top of the stairs and Ginny nearly groaned at the thought of Filch also being thrown into her misfortune. Then as if reading her mind Snape spoke.

"She's down here, Argus." He called across the entrance hall to the caretaker who rushed down the stairs towards them.

"Is that you Snape?"

"Yes it's me Argus."

"Who have you caught?" Filch asked his voice ringing with excitement as he came to stand next to Snape, his thin cat twining herself between his legs.

"This is young Miss. Weasley from Gryffindor." Snape informed him.

"Out after hours?" Filch wheezed, "I don't have to ask to know whose sister you are, I should've known at least one in the family would be like those horrible twins. What sort of mischief were you up to, placing dung bombs in the chandeliers? Exploding toilets?" He asked.

"No, I didn't destroy anything, I was just…" Ginny trailed off, it would be bad if she admitted to being outside after curfew, that was even more dangerous than being up after curfew, and she had just gained the experience to prove it.

"You were just what, Miss. Weasley, please delight us and continue with your little story." Snape sneered.

"I, I couldn't sleep, so… I went for a walk… to the lake." She admitted, not looking up from the cat who, as if knowing she had broken rules, hissed with an arched back and swung its paw through the air.

"_I see._ Well, it appears that like your little boyfriend _Potter_, you must think yourself to be above school rules, which I must inform to you that you are not. Fifty points will be taken from Gryffindor for your little trip; those are the consequences you will pay for your _insomnia._ Argus would you please escort her back to her dormitory, we don't want her to sneak off on any more _midnight strolls_." Snape instructed before turning and sweeping off towards his dungeons.

Ginny stood there with her jaw dropped. How dare he mention Harry Potter! Did he know how much she was trying to forget about him? And the Snape goes and drags him back into her thoughts. The Nerve!

"Get a move on!" Filch wheezed from behind her, his cat mewled in agreement. Ginny huffed, picked up her sneakers and marched back to the staircase. "Wouldn't be disappointed if I were you," Filch pointed out. "You're lucky to have avoided detention." Ginny didn't respond but kept walking.

By the time they reached the tower again it was nearly three in the morning and Ginny was feeling very tired indeed. Filch had threatened her all the way back to the fat lady's portrait with promises of hanging her from chains or strapping her upside down from a wall if he ever caught her out of her rooms after hours again. Ginny ignored him the entire way and purposefully rushed away from him when she woke the fat lady and went back into the dormitory.

Once inside, Ginny found that she was too tired to go back to her actual rooms. Instead she collapsed into an armchair in front of the fire and seethed about Snape and what she would do to _accidentally_ waste his ingredients during her next potions period, until after chuckling at the thought of a cauldron exploding gin his face, she fell into a light sleep plagued by mightmares of white fangs growling at her from strong wolf's jaws.


	4. Plaque of Outstanding Achievement

**Cry Wolf**

**II: Plaque of Outstanding Achievement**

By Thursday life at the castle for Ginny had become very boring indeed. The events of the previous night were still fresh in her mind but she wasn't as angry anymore. Most of the time she found herself thinking about the wolf and how when looking at it in retrospect it did not appear scary at all, just wary, or perhaps scared of her. Of course she had wanted to tell someone about her encounter with the creature, but Anna-Rose never really hung around with her enough to discuss rule breaking with, and no one else seemed the slightest bit interested. Sighing Ginny realized what a curse befriending older students was, especially when those older students failed to return to school.

Leaning back into the chair by the common room fire Ginny thought over how their absence had affected her sixth year so far. With no Hermione to gossip and talk with there was much more free time falling into her daily schedule. But besides not having Hermione to talk with, her homework was also suffering the consequences. She wouldn't fail, but she would more than likely receive far more E's than O's this year.

Without Ron to fight with most of her angry frustrations at school work and excessive homework which would have been vented off onto him became bottled up inside and left her feeling constantly surly and moody, And without Harry… well she wouldn't let herself think about Harry.

Frustrated with boredom Ginny suddenly jumped up, startling a few first years nearby who hadn't known she had been there. After muttering them a quick apology she exited through the portrait hole and began to walk to where ever her feet would take her.

Staring blankly at the path she was taking but never really paying attention Ginny thought about many things from whether she had completed her Transfiguration homework correctly down to whether she should polish her broom and clip the twigs or just leave it for another week and alsowondering when try outs would be held and who would be joining the team under their new captain. Katie Bell had been awarded the honor of Quiddich captain after Harry had failed to return for his seventh year, but she wouldn't think about Harry.

_Mew_

Distracted from her thoughts Ginny glanced up and spotted Mrs. Norris watching her with disdain. Fighting the strong urge to kick her down the stairs she was sitting atop of Ginny fixed the cat with a glare.

"What rules am I breaking _kitty?_" She asked sarcastically before passing the mangy fur ball and descending the stairs. The cat hissed from behind her but Ginny paid it no mind and continued her stroll, her thoughts once again absorbing themselves causing her to wander aimlessly until when waking from her mindlessness she was surprised to find herself outside of the trophy room. Shrugging she entered, thinking that perhaps she would spit on Percy's head boy trophy.

Wandering around the room Ginny searched through the many trophies for as many things as you could imagine, from Gobstones champions to the Quiddich and House cups, down to plaques awarded for things such as most time spent silent, or most words written in a single essay. there was even a small trophy awarded to some bloke named Bartenminius Binnetly for finding long dead Professor Grundolf's missing hat.

'_Must be a relative of Barry's'_ Ginny thought as she imagined Bartenminius returning a mangy hat to a professor who looked less than mentally stable and then immediately beginning to discuss what sort of recognition he would receive. Shaking her head Ginny headed to the back wall of the room which was labeled, 'Head Boys, Girls, and Prefects.' Starting with the most recent of the awards Ginny began searching back until she found Percy's plaque.

Disappointed that unlike the rest of the plaques his was stoked in a glass door cabinet with what appeared to be many other perfect achievers Ginny realized that she did not have the key to the cabinet and would not be able to open it to spit on her brother's award. Instead she Glared at the plaque and imagined it burning.

_Plaque of Outstanding Achievement_

_Awarded to: Percy Ignatius Weasley_

_Years Attending Hogwarts: 1987-1994_

_Prefect for Years: 1991-1993_

_Head Boy for School Year 1993-1994_

_O.W.L.S Earned: 12_

_Graduated top of Class_

_Father: Arthur Weasley_

_Mother: Molly Weasley (Prewett)_

_Brothers: Bill Weasley, Charlie Weasley,_

_Fred Weasley, George Weasley, and _

_Ronald Weasley._

_Sister: Ginevra Weasley_

Ginny read these words before scowling and moving on. Bored as she was she might as well read through some more of them before returning to the common room, hopefully before curfew, she did not want to lose more house points or receive a detention for being out two nights in a row.

Wandering along and casually reading the plaques as she counted back throught the years she spotted both Charlie and Bill's plaques and many others of people she didn't know before stopping. Curiously she looked at the plaque before her, it read.

_Plaque of Outstanding Achievement_

_Awarded to: Lily Evans_

_Years Attending Hogwarts: 1971-1978_

_Head Girl for School Year 1977-1978_

_O.W.L.S Earned: 6_

_Graduated top of Class_

_Father: Wayne Evans (Muggle)_

_Mother: Sherrill Evans (Snape) (Muggle)_

_Sister: Petunia Evans (Muggle)_

Ginny studiedHarry's mother'splaque with confusion. Lily's mother's name read _Sherrill Evans_, but her maiden name had been _Snape_. How could that be possible? Snape was a wizards surname, the proof lived in Hogwarts' very own dungeons. But if that was true, why did it plainly read Sherrill Evans Snape? These thoughts raced through her mind as the young witch reasoned with herself until finally, thinking that she was putting far too much thought into something so irrelevant Ginny told herself that the Snape in question could have possibly been a squib or of no relation to Professor Snape at all.

Glancing at her watch she saw that there were only fifteen minutes for her to use to return to the common room before it was curfew so after taking a final glance at the plaque Ginny left the trophy room and headed for the staircase.

**

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**

Hey! I know this was short, but there it is. So what are all you people thinking so far? I'd love to get some feedback, I feel like I'm giving out money and no ones saying thank you, haha. Anyway, hope you're all enjoying it, toodles.

-Darth Depravious


	5. That's Quite a Tantrum You Threw

**Cry Wolf**

**II: "That's Quite a Tantrum You Threw."**

As the end of the week passed, and quickly another full week to follow, Ginny kept herself busy by doing her homework and exploring the castle whenever she had nothing else to occupy her self with. Quiddich tryouts had come and gone and as usual Ginny had secured her place as chaser for the Gryffindor team. Katie informed them that practices were going to be held on Wednesdays and Sundays and Ginny was thankful that something else could now eat time out of her not so busy schedule.

The first practice however had gone off rather shakily, the new seeker was good, but he came from a muggle family and was still sort of uneasy about the whole quiddich thing. But Katie held belief that he would improve and the rest of the team agreed so they kept him on. Besides a new seeker the only other addition to the team was a new chaser by the name of, much to Ginny's surprise, Anna-Rose, who before this Ginny did not have the slightest idea even watched quiddich let alone played.

"Anna-Rose, why didn't you tell me that you played quiddich? Hell, why didn't you tell me you played so damn good!" Ginny had demanded when they had returned to the common room after their first practice. Anna-Rose had blushed deeply and explained that she'd only ever played at home before and had never had the guts to try out for the school team. When Ginny had asked why bother to try out after all this time Anna-Rose had explained that her brother had made a bet with a friend that said she would never try out. She had to prove him wrong, and make him lose his galleons along the way so she had gone for it. Smiling, Ginny had told her friend that bet or not bet she was happy that she had joined the team. For this she had received a very uncomfortable hug.

Speaking of uncomfortable situations, Ginny was getting very good at avoiding them, at least when it came to her tutoring sessions with the potions master. Much to her surprise she had found that after their first, appointment, if you could call it that, Snape seemed to have taken her advice and was not hovering over her shoulder and constantly watching her work. He had not however let her move back to her own desk and was still quick to point out and sneer at her mistakes, just not constantly.

She had also found her own way to turn the tables on the professor and drive _him_ crazy for a change. Whenever Snape would make a snide remark or point out some error in her work Ginny would be sure to react as if he had saved her from failing and respond in the happiest most positive way, always adding a 'thank you professor' onto the end of her little rants. Unfortunately it had now become somewhat of a contest of wills between the two and Snape's remarks had begun to get nastier and nastier to try and throw her off balance. But so far she had not given in, and unconsciously had begun to double check her work before he checked it over so that he would have fewer insults to throw her way. But she knew that the dreaded potions master would not give in until his dying breath and that it would be no easy task for her to win.

"Ginny, what are you smiling about?" Anna-Rose asked suddenly from her bunk across the room.

"What?" Ginny asked withconfusion as she was pulled out of her reverie.

"You were smiling just now with a sort of dreamy far away look on your face, what were you thinking about?" She asked, giggling and teasing her friend.

"Oh, nothing, I was just remembering something funny that happened earlier today." Ginny said quickly.

"What was it?" Anna-Rose asked waggling an eyebrow suggestively before giggling. "Was it about a booooyyyyyy?" She drawled.

"No. It wasn't anything important," Ginny said, while what she had actually been thinking about slipped her mind. "Anyway, how was your day?" Ginny asked before flopping down onto her stomach with her head at the foot of her bed so she could comfortably talk to Anna-Rose.

"Same-old-same-old. But I did find out why Lira Frontelli hasn't been to class the past few days." She gossiped.

"Yea? Why's that?" Ginny asked eagerly, Lira Frontelli wasn't a very popular girl, most of the time she hung out in the library and yelled at anyone who disturbed her. Ron had said that She reminded him of Hermione in their first year, but Ginny had noted that unlike Hermione, Lira was just plain mean and had even hexed a kid who had interrupted her once.

"Well, apparently while she was in the library, some Slytherin seventh year went over to borrow one of the books that she had. Of course we all know how she is about books, so plainly she refused to lend it to him, apparently they were really persistent and she actually tried to hex them!" Anna-Rose rambled.

"No way! A Slytherin seventh year? Is she nuts?" Ginny asked.

"Apparently, because the Slytherin dodged her spell and hexed her right back with some weird curse that made her grow rabbit ears. McGonagall took her to the hospital wing but Madame Pomfrey still hasn't figured out how to get rid of the ears. I heard that she might have to keep them!" She exclaimed. Ginny burst out laughing at the thought of Lira Frontelli, who always put on such a show of how she was not to be bothered while dishing out various threats,seated on top of a muggle TV while the watcher told her which way to move her ears to make the picture come in.

"That's priceless." Ginny said, winded from laughing.

"It is, but anyway, how was your day?" Anna-Rose asked after she had gotten control over her own laughing fit. Ginny shrugged.

"The usual. It was pretty boring actually, especially with practically _two_ potions classes." She groaned.

"Oh yea, you have that tutoring thing on Fridays don't you?"

"And Tuesdays." Ginny added with a sigh.

"And Tuesdays? Geez, I don't know how you could stand it, I can't even stand being in that greasy git's class for the regular session!" Ginny frowned.

"He's not that bad Anna-Rose, sure he's strict but he can teach." Ginny argued before wondering why she had done so. Hadn't she always hated Snape just as much as everyone else?

"Yea, but McGonagall's strict and she teaches without being anywhere near Snape's level of evil, or _strictness_ as you call it." Anna-Rose joked before yawning. "Anyway, tomorrows a Hogsmead weekend so I'm gonna get some sleep. Night Ginny." She said before closing her bed hangings.

"Night." Ginny mumbled. Not moving from her spot with her head at the foot of the bed.She ran what had just happened through her mind.

Why had she defended Snape? She couldn't deny that he was evil, and pig headed, strict and rude. But he also seemed to understand how to get students to work, even if it was always by using negative reinforcement. But that didn't explain why she had defended him.

"_**It's because he's been different with you lately, because of the way you compete with each other, you see a slightly different side of him."** _A voice in her head told her. Ginny got up, telling herself that that had to be it. She was defending him because she had seen the way he used his methods and that her work had actually improved.

"_**But he doesn't have to compete with you; he could have stopped at no longer hovering over your shoulder."** _The voice told her. Ginny shook her head as she sat up and crawled to the right end of the bed.

"_No, that was me, I started the competition, he only keeps it going because he doesn't want to lose."_She thought as she crawled under the covers but then felt a sinking feeling in her stomach.

"**_Exactly." _**The voice mused triumphantly. **_"You like him." _**Ginny froze, the though ringing through her mind. Did she like the professor? No that couldn't be. It was impossible, he was too old, too mean, he didn't understand humor, he didn't understand how to joke around…

"**_Do you really believe that? His sense of humor is just different than yours that's all." _**The voice nagged as a memory popped into her mind.

"_I trust that you have your work completed Miss. Weasley?" The professor said as he scooped up her rough outline to look it over._

"_Yes Professor I do." She said smirking at him. Snape's black eyes darted back and forth while he read._

'_Why had I noticed his eyes?' Ginny thought as the memory continued._

"_What is this Miss. Weasley, a mistake perhaps?" He asked with an arched eyebrow. When Ginny didn't answer he went on, "'The Draught of Peace contains two key ingredients, powdered moonstone and the syrup of Hells' Boar.' Miss. Weasley I am not sure where you would collect the syrup of a hog from hell, but I can assure you it is not and ingredient in this potion." He had sneered before placing her paper back on his desk "I expect you to correct that mistake before you go."_

"_His eyes didn't hold that sneer." Ginny thought as the memory continued to progress._

"_Oh, how could I have made such a dreadful mistake? If it weren't for you I would have failed, thank you professor." Ginny had said as if he had saved her life. There was a just a glimpse of a smirk that passed over Snape's face before it disappeared._

"_Oh my god Snapewas joking with me." Ginny thought with shock as the memory faded away._

"**_Told you." _**The voice chided.

"_No, I can't like Snape, he's too old." She argued with herself._

"_**Ah, but when it was one of Bill's friends you said that age was just a number."**_

"_He's too mean, too evil."_

"_**But you just saw the other side of him, must I show you the memory again?"**_

"_I can't like Snape, he's a death eater!" _She argued futily.

"_**You don't know that, he works for the order, as Dumbledore's spy, remember?"**_

"_I CAN'T AND REFUSE TO HAVE A CRUSH ON SNAPE!" _Ginny yelled at herself, punching a pillow and rolling over in anger as if she could escape from the voice that was the other half of her conscience.

"**_But you do." _**Was all it said before Ginny, frustrated and angry at herself had closed her eyes and refused to think about it anymore.

"_**That's quite a tantrum you threw."** _It commented before allowing her to go to sleep.

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There it is, she's admitted it, sort of, anyway, thanks to **We B Freaks** and **PyroChk358 **for the lovely reviews on the last chapter, Here are cookies for you both, or muffins depending. Take both if you like. Hope to hear back from readers about this chapter. 

-Darth Depravious


	6. Point for Me!

**Cry Wolf**

**VI: "Point for Me!"**

Saturday was a very boring day for Ginny. Opting to stay at the castle on Saturday, because she did not find the prospect of going to Hogsmead that exciting on the count of she had already been there so many times before. Anna-Rose however had jumped at the opportunity and rushed off to the village leaving Ginny quite alone with her thoughts, which she wasn't quite ready yet to explore so the day was filled with futile attempts to distract her self from the 'Snape' issue.

Much to her dismay Sunday passed in much the same fashion.

Of course by the time Monday rolled around the young Gryffindor found herself wishing the day would go on and on, and hoping that Tuesday with the dreaded potions class and tutoring wouldn't come. But of course, time never falters (unless you happen to own a time turner, which Ginny did not.) So Tuesday, as it had many times before, came without hesitation, and upon waking up in the morning Ginny found herselfthinking of wild plans which she could use to escapethe potion class and tutoring that she would be forced into attending.

'_How can I ever, EVER,_ _show up in his class again? He'll know something's up, he always does!" _Ginny thought as she crawled out of bed, cursing the sunlight that had woke her. _'I should fake sick.' _She thought angrily, but then realizing that he would more than likely suspect something if she faked sick rather than show up in a very foul mood, because believe her she would. So with a sigh she gathered her school clothes and went off to have a shower.

Still angry at her self that such a thing could possibly happen, and still unwilling to accept what she knew to be true, Ginny tried to push the thought of the potions professor from her mind as the warm shower water ran down her body.

'_I can't think about this, not today. I can't go around thinking about Professor Snape…'_

'**_Tall, dark, mysterious Professor Snape…' _**The other side of her thought before Ginny shook her head and forced her self to think about quiddich, which of course, did the trick.

**

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**

"Man that was booooooorrring!" Anna-Rose said exasperatedly and faking a yawn as they fled from the potions classroom, Ginny was walking at an unnecessary brisk pace and Anna-Rose was just managing to keep up.

"Yea." Ginny said absentmindedly as she thought about the day's lesson, which hadn't been very impressive. Snape had informed the class only minutes after he had entered the room that he was very busy brewing skele-grow for Madame Pomfrey. He instructed them to read chapter seven from pages 56 to 67 and then have a 14 inch essay ready by Friday to be handed in. After this he had of course, given out the usual threats, stressing that detentions would be given and house points deducted if they did not behave and do as they were told, also warning them that he could hear them through the wall between here and his private lab and would_ know_ if they did not behave themselves.

Ginny had sighed with both relief, and to her great frustration, disappointment. Hadn't she prayed that she would not have to put up with him this class? Ironically her wish had been answered and instead of feeling happy she felt sad that he would not be there. Angry at herself again Ginny flipped her book open.

"I will NOT like Professor Snape." She mumbled to herself as she searched for the correct page.

"What was that Gin?" Anna-Rose asked.

"Nothing." Ginny said quickly, feeling her cheeks heat. "I just said oh yay isn't this great." She lied then braced herself to be questioned but this explanation seemed to suit Anna-Rose perfectly fine and she didn't push the issue any further.

"Ginny can we _please_ slow down, there's no fire behind us!" Anna-Rose pleaded, drawing Ginny out of the memory. Startled, Ginny jumped and then slowed down. "Geez you're acting weird today, what's got you so distracted?"

"Nothing, I'm just worried about… quiddich." Ginny lied. Anna-Rose gave her an unbelieving look.

"C'mon Gin, I know that's not it." She whined adding a "You can tell me." Ginny snorted at the very thought, how could she ever tell Anna-Rose let alone anyone who breathed that she, Ginny Weasley, former girlfriend of the great Harry Potter, now had a crush on the death eater and most hated professor, Severus Snape? Unfortunately Anna-Rose took this snort the wrong way.

"Fine Ginny," She said, sounding rather disappointed and slightly hurt. "Don't tell me, I understand if you think I can't be trusted." She completed before crossing her arms across her chest and leaving Ginny behind.

"Annie, wait." Ginny called, but Anna-Rose pretended not to hear her and speeded away around the corner. Ginny sighed with frustration and crossed her own arms pouting. Not only was Anna now mad at her, but now she couldn't get the thought of Harry out of her mind. All she could imagine was him walking in on her and Snape while they performeddeeds that should be kept very discreet, and then Harry killing Snape on the spot.

Suddenly shocked that she could think about such… _things…_ Ginny quickened her pace, passed the hall and headed straight for the common room. She had to do something to get Snape out of her mind.

"**_You know you like it." _**Her other side teased.

"_No I do not; I don't know how I could think such a thing, especially with him!" _She argued.

"_**We both know that those thoughts only come if you want them." **_

Ginny had to admit it was right.

**

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**

"Miss. Weasley, you are late." Snape snapped from his desk as she entered the room. Ginny kept her eyes on the floor.

"Sorry Professor." She said with a monotone, trying not to look at him, and still raging that she could ever have feeling towards such a… _different _man.

"Well, do not just stand there, you know where the books are and you know what to do, get to work." He sneered. Ginny did not dare look up to see if his eyes held the sneer or not as they hadn't before. Quickly she went and sat across form him at the desk and began to work, her quill scratching softly as she copied notes and filled out necessary sections about brewing steps which she could use later.

There was a long silence around the roomand she knew that he was staring at her while she worked.

"I guess, Miss. Weasley that this means I win our little, _contest._" He sneered.

"Yes sir, I guess it does." She said quietly, continueing to write. She could feel Snape watch her for a moment more before his quill began scratching viciously across the assignments that he was marking.

Ginny let out a breath that she had been holding with relief and continued to work.

The two hours of tutoring dragged by, Ginny found it extremely hard to work with her _distraction_ sitting across from her and often found her self watching Snape as he marked what appeared to be third year essays. Although she had never found him attractive before, much more so she had thought of him as ugly, when she really got to watching him, she found that, well, he wasn't that bad looking. He had the look of a medieval man, she decided, someone rugged, who had seen many battles and knew what had to be done to protect others. She placed the blame for those tragedies onto Voldemort.

"Do you have a question Miss. Weasley?" Snape said suddenly, snapping her out of her trance.

"Sorry Professor?" She asked, realizing that he was staring right at her.

"I asked if you had a question, or were you just lost in the space between your ears?"

Ginny relaxed as she felt relief course through her veins. _'He didn't notice I was watching him, thank Merlin.' _She thought.

"No professor, I was just wondering what time it was that's all." She said sheepishly, while looking back down at her work. Snape glared at her before pushing up his sleeve and glancing at a muggle watch.

"It is quarter to eight, Pack up your things and hand me your work." He commanded.

Ginny responded with a 'yes Professor' and packed up her things. She handed him her parchment and waited until he had finished reading it while staring at the wall.

"Miss. Weasley, this is the most dismal work I've seen from you yet, you've barely written anything, none of your paragraphs relate to each other, and at the bottom of the page you've written some sort of fantasy about some _boy, _no doubt that dunderhead Potter." Snape grouched before thrusting her papers back into her hands. Ginny flushed and quickly glanced at her page where she had absent mindedly written four lines.

_How could this happen? How could I want such a thing?_

_How could I like such a person that I could never be with?_

_Someone who's so difficult, so different from me?_

_How could I like someone who would cause so much controversy to be with?_

Feeling her cheeks burn brighter Ginny quickly packed her paper away. Snape was watching her from across his desk.

"Miss. Weasley if you want to pass this course, then I suggest you forget about pining over Potter and get your act together." He sneered, there was that look in his eyes again, from before, he wasn't going to let her give up the contest so easily. Irritated Ginny searched her mind for something to retort with until the memory of a shining plaque popped into her head. Smirking mischievously Ginny watched the darkly clad man before her.

"You know Professor, for someone who might possibly be related to Harry you certainly do hate him enough." She commented.

**

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**

Snape glared at his student from across the desk, trying to process what she had just said. Him? Related to Harry Potter, the Harry Potter who he had loathed for so long? The very thought was Preposterous, absolutely absurd.

"Miss. Weasley that is the wildest accusation I have heard all day. The very thought is absolutely ludicrous." He sneered while glaring at the girl. _'You will have to do better than that to beat me.' _He thought as he watched her arrogant smirk widen. "Although, as you likely thought, most purebloods are related, Potter and I were no closer than black and white, just as you have no relation to me; I had no relation to him." He scowled as the girl's smirk widened even further.

"Professor, perhaps you should read Lily Evans' Head Girl plaque." She said wryly before slinging her bag over her shoulder and exiting through the door, looking back, he assumed, to gloat before walking off.

"The entire thing is most definitely a lie," He said to himself as he stood, refusing to remember Lily, he had done much to forget her. "It would be a complete and utter waste of my time, following up on such nonsense." He sneered to no one in particular before, despite his own negativity towards the concept, he exited his office, warded the door, and headed for the trophy room.

**BLAHBLAHBLAH**

Ginny waited in the shadows around a corner, wondering if he would take the bait. This would be a major point for her battle in their contest. She had to know if he would go to investigate.

"_**You just want to watch him without him knowing." **_

"_shh, That's beside the point." _She told herself.

"_**Hardly. Look here he comes, and here you go, glued to him like a muggle glued to a television."**_

Ginny watched as Snape rounded the corner and swept into the trophy room.

"_Yes! Point for me!"_

"_**And some eye candy as a prize."**_

"_Stop that!" _She told herself before, giddy, heading back to the tower. Perhaps she could patch things up with Anna-Rose.

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Yay! I love this chapter, first Snape p.o.v in this story! hope you like it! thanks to **WeB Freaks** and **PyroChk358** for reviews, I brought you pizza this time! dig in!

-Darth Depraious


	7. Then Fire Me

**Cry Wolf**

**VII: "Then Fire Me."**

"Anna? Anna? Are you awake?" Ginny asked as she mounted the last stair into their dormitory and glanced around the room before spotting her friend seated on her bed. She was met with a nasty glare of annoyance before the girl flicked her wand and her hangings snapped shut. Ginny frowned. "C'mon Anna, I'm sorry about earlier, can we talk?" She asked tentatively. There was a long moment of silence between the two in which Anna made no attempt to respond to Ginny. Huffing with aggravation the red head moved closer to Anna-Rose's bunk. "Anna? Let me explain." She pleaded.

"Why bother?" Anna-Rose asked, her voice sounding hurt. "You made it pretty clear that you don't trust me." Her voice drifted through the curtains and was slightly muffled. Ginny sighed.

"No Anna, I trust you, can we please talk?" She asked. There was another long moment of silence in which Ginny realized that her attempt was failing. Just when she was about to curse Anna-Rose and tell her that she was foolish and immature Anna-Rose's hangings were slowly drawn back and Anna peered out at her awkwardly.

"Okay Ginny, explain if you can." She said quietly, moving her legs so that Ginny could sit on the edge of the bed. Ginny sat down next to Anna, who had her knees drawn up and was clutching a pillow while resting her head on the soft cushioning.

"Anna, I'm sorry if I hurt your feelings, I didn't mean to," Ginny said apologetically, while wondering how she was going to pull this off, she could obviously not tell Anna-Rose about her crush on the potions professor. She knew that Anna would keep it quiet, but she also knew that she would be disgusted with Ginny for having such feelings. "It's just that, the thought of telling you what I was thinking, made me realize that if I told anyone I would be the laughing stock of the entire school, everyone would hate me! I wasn't laughing at you; I was laughing because I knew that the idea of telling _anyone_ in the entire school was completely unthinkable." She finished, hoping that Anna would leave it at that. She didn't want her friend to be mad at her, but if it came down to Anna demanding to know, then Anna would have just have to be mad, because Ginny could not tell. Anna watched her, her expression unreadable.

"So, you thought I would tell; is that it?" She asked. Ginny immediately shook her head.

"No, I didn't think you would tell. It's just that, sometimes I have secrets I don't want to tell anyone. Do you know what I mean?" She asked. Anna-Rose watched her thoughtfully before nodding.

"Yea, I know what you mean I guess." She admitted. Ginny smiled which stimulated a smile from the other girl as well.

"I'm sorry I upset you, are we okay now?" She asked. Anna-Rose nodded.

"Yes, yes of course." A mischievous look flitted across her face. "So, Ginny… this, _thing _that you can tell no one, is it a boy?" Ginny crossed her arms and huffed but she could feel a blush creep into her face anyway. "Ah ha! I knew it!" Anna exclaimed before breaking into giggles. "Ginny's in loooooovvvvvvveeeeeeeee!" She teased. "But I suppose you won't grace me with knowledge by telling me who?" Ginny shook her head.

"No. Especially after that." She answered. Anna-Rose giggled again.

"Okay fine, I can accept that. But don't drop your guard! I'll be watching you." She warned. Ginny laughed openly, knowing that no matter how hard Anna tried she would never _ever_ suspect it to be the black, imposing, tall, handsome, Severus Snape.

"**_Handsome? You mean dead sexy." _**She corrected herself.

"_Well duh." _She agreed before wondering when she had started to talk to herself so much.

"So Ginny, did you hear?" Anna asked, breaking Ginny out of her mental conversation.

"Hear what?" She asked. Anna jumped up and sat on top of her knees with excitement.

"About Lira Frontelli?" When Ginny gave her a puzzled look she continued. "Madame Pomfrey sent her to St. Mungo's yesterday, and they couldn't take them off either!" Ginny stared in shock.

"You mean she's going to have to keep her hears? No way!"

"Yes way! Isn't that hilarious?" Anna-Rose asked.

"Yes and definitely what she deserves." Ginny giggled. Anna agreed and then went into a long rant about how many times she had wanted to curse Lira herself. Ginny just smiled, glad that Anna was no longer mad with her.

**

* * *

**

"Ginny are you listening to me?" Anna-Rose asked sharply while buttering toast.

"Sorry, what were you saying?" She asked turning her head around and directing her attention back to her friend. Anna-Rose shot her a glare of annoyance.

"I was asking if you finished your charms homework, I wanted some help and I know you're really good at that subject."

"Oh sure, I'll help you at break before class." Ginny said dismissively before turning back and searching the crowd while absentmindedly poking her eggs with her fork.

'_Where is he?' _She thought while searching the great hall for any sign of a certain professor.

'**_Check the staff able again.'_**

'_I just did, he's not there.' _She argued with herself but glanced back at the tall staff table anyway. As before Snape's usual seat was empty, at least it was until Flitwick seated himself there so he could more easily talk to McGonagall.

"Ginny, what has got your attention? You're not hearing a word I'm saying!" Anna-Rose whined. Realizing that Snape was not present Ginny sighed and turned back around.

"Nothing Anna, tell me what you were saying." She said once again focusing on her friend. Anna-Rose watched her before grinning with revelation.

"Ohhhhhh, I know what you're doing. You're looking for your lover boy aren't you?" She teased.

"Of course not." Ginny said, trying not to blush but knowing it was useless. A Weasley being able to control their blushing reflex was like Voldemort declaring the war a giant joke and then handing out candy. It just didn't happen, and Ginny knew that by now, her entire face, including her ears would be as red as her hair.

"Ooooh Yes you are! Tell me where he's sitting; you've got to at least let me guess." She said ecstatically.

"Never mind, he's not there." Ginny said matter of factly.

"Oh." Anna-Rose responded, sounding crest fallen. "Hey, if I do guess, will you tell me?" Ginny smirked.

"Sure, you know why?"

"Because I'm incredibly brilliant."

"No, because you'll never figure it out in a million years!" Ginny snorted. Anna opened her mouth to argue but the bell rang and Ginny distracted her by pretending to be in a hurry to get to Transfiguration. On her way out of the Great Hall she threw a glance towards the dungeons, hoping to spot Snape sweeping either in or out of them but there was no sight of him.

'_**Damn, no sights to see.'**_

'_yea, that's too bad.'_

_**

* * *

**_

Much to Ginny's dismay, the remainder of the week passed in much the same fashion, with no sign of Snape at breakfast, lunch, dinner, in the halls, on the grounds, or even completing his rounds. On Thursday Ginny received word from the fourth years that Snape hadn't even been teaching classes. This had really made her begin to worry. Snape Give up teaching potions? That would be the day that he hugged Gilderoy Lockhart, she tried to assure herself, but she was still uneasy.

"But then who's teaching his class?" She had asked the third years who informed her with glee that Dumbledore himself had taken over the subject.

"It's a pity that he assures us Snape will be back to teaching soon." One of the younger students whined.

"Yea, a real pain in the ass." The other agreed. Ginny fixed their backs with a glare as they headed over the portrait hole to go off to who knows where.

Currently on her way to the very potions class that indeed Dumbledore was teaching, Ginny pushed the memories from yesterday out of her mind and began wondering why Snape would be absent for so long. Was he sick? He didn't seem like the type that got too to sicknesses.

"_Maybe he's on vacation."_Ginny snorted at this idea, the day Snape went on vacation and passed up the opportunity to belittle poor students would be the day… well when she came to think about it, there wasn't even a metaphor ridiculous enough to be worthy of describing that situation.

"Good morning Miss Weasley." Dumbledore greeted as she entered the classroom, his eyes twinkling at her in that way that often suggested he knew something that she didn't.

"Good morning Headmaster." She said before taking her seat near the back of the room. Dumbledore chuckled from behind Snape's desk. Which Ginny wished the owner were sitting in.

"Now please Miss. Weasley, there's no need to be so formal, I am a professor today, just like I was many years ago. Of course you were not yet born then so you wouldn't remember that, would you?" He asked her.

"Err- no sir." Ginny replied. Dumbledore shook his head.

"No, I shouldn't think so." Then he turned and directed his attention to the entire class.

"Now, in Professor Snape's absence, which I can assure you will only be a very short amount of time, I will be instructing you in this course. I must warn you that I taught Transfiguration when I was a professor, so teaching this subject will be a very great change for me." He began while glancing around the class who met his gaze with smiles and nods from everyone but Ginny.

'_Why does he keep staring at me every time he talks about Snape?'_

'_**He knows.'**_

'_He can't know. How would he know? Not even Anna-Rose knows. There is no way that Dumbledore could know about my thoughts of Snape.'_

'_**Maybe.'**_

'_Damn straight, just because he's a genius doesn't mean he can read my mind. He can't know.'_

'_**But then again…'**_

"So," Dumbledore started, interrupting her argument. "I've decided that instead of attempting to actually teach you and perhaps undo what knowledge Snape has managed to fill your brains with, I have decided to allow you all to work on your outlines which I understand are to be handed in on Monday. But I must ask you to promise that you do not tell him I allowed you to do so." His eyes twinkled with mischief and again fell onto Ginny who managed a smile before looking down at her work.

'_Well this blows, I can't work on this, I didn't bring any of my stuff with me. Also I need Snape's books. Maybe I can find out why he's not teaching during tutoring…'_

"Miss Weasley, can I ask why you aren't working." Dumbledore asked suddenly from her side. Ginny jumped, when did he get there?

"I'm sorry Headmaster-"

"Professor."

"Sorry, Professor, but I don't have any of my work with me, and I need some of Professor Snape's books to finish what I was doing." She explained. Dumbledore nodded.

"Ah yes, Severus informed me that he was assisting you with the project. I'm sure you must be at quite a _loss _in his absence." There was that look again.

"Yes Head-Professor, I am."

'_Damn I think he does know.'_

'_**Told you.'**_

'_Damn.'_

"Well Miss. Weasley, don't fret, you may work on any other homework you have until the bell." Dumbledore said before, eyes still twinkling with knowing, he went back to the front of the room. Sighing Ginny took out her Transfiguration book and essay and began to work on that.

'_Well this class was a complete waste of my time.'_

'_**Yea. Can't even pass the time by watching him.'**_

'_He better know that he's not allowed to miss class anymore. If it were me I'd get detention!'_

_**

* * *

**_

Snape sat in front to the fireplace in his office. Slouched over with indifference, ignoring the witch that was knocking on his door.

"Professor Snape? Are you there? Sir I need to work on my project." She called through the door. Snape's lip curled and he drank from the bottle of fire whiskey in his hand. "Professor, it's Ginny Weasley," She tried again; "I need your help working on my project."

"Go away Miss Weasley." He barked angrily, refusing to get up from his chair. There was a long pause in which he thought perhaps she had gone away but she was persistent and called through the door again.

"But sir, I need to have my outline done for Monday." _I need to have my outline done for Monday. _He sneered. At this moment he did not care about that red head's project. With any luck she'd fail and he'd be able to refuse to teach her again next year. _That would ensure I would win. _He thought, then raised the bottle to his lips and swallowed more of the fiery brew.

"Sir?" She called through the door again. Anger leapt into his veins and coursed through his body at her arrogance. Couldn't she follow simple instructions? Standing from his chair, and determined to give the witch a good yelling at, he staggered to the door and flung it open. The young witch stared up at him with shock and then her gaze went to the bottle in his hand and she put two and two together.

"I believe, Miss. Weasley that you were told to leave." He snapped while fixing her with a death glare. The girl looked at him, perhaps a bit hurt and Snape smirked. _Good, let her feel pain. She deserves it after what she told me._

"Yes sir I know, but I really need to-"

"Fuck the project! Forget about the damn work and get back to your common room!" He bellowed. The witch's mouth fell open in shock and she turned to leave but paused as something caught her attention. Snape looked up and spotted the Headmaster was standing a few feet away, looking disappointed in Snape's behavior. _Shit._

"Miss, Weasley. Please excuse me while I speak with Professor Snape." Dumbledore said stiffly, his eyes darting to Snape, they did not twinkle. Snape's lip curled and he strode back into his office, leaving the door open and draining the remainder of the fire whiskey from the bottle, immediately wishing he had another. Setting the empty bottle on his desk he flung himself into the chair behind it and stared at the far wall as Dumbledore followed him into the room and also closed the door behind him.

"Severus, I am disappointed to find that this is why you have been missing classes." Dumbledore said his voice cold. Snape made an angry 'chh' sound by blowing air through his teeth. There was a moment of strained silence before Dumbledore continued. "So why, Severus, have you been drinking yourself into a stupor these last few days?" He asked. Snape drew his attention away from the far wall and glared at the older man.

"You mean to tell me, that you, the one who knows almost everything about the Potters, and their relatives, can not tell me?" He snarled. Dumbledore watched the man, his expression unreadable, but remained patient.

"No Severus I can not. Why don't you enlighten me?" Snape made another angry 'chh' sound. He was lying.

"You lie, you do know." He accused. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"Tell you what Severus?" His composure still quite normal, Snape's blood began to boil at the fact that the man could remain so calm

"You know bloody well what! Why the hell didn't you tell me that we were related! You knew, why didn't you tell me that Lily was my cousin?" He bellowed. Dumbledore's eyes flashed for a moment but then returned to their expressionless state.

"I will ask you not to speak to me in that manner Severus." He said calmly. Snape scowled and turned his attention back to the far wall while he drummed his fingers on the desk's highly polished wood. "As to why I didn't tell you," Dumbledore continued, "I felt that knowing would cause you too much pain considering things that have happened in the past. And now that you do know, my suspicions have been proven correct. I did not tell you for your own good Severus."

"I can decide what's for my own good. I had a right to know." Snape growled. There was another long pause in which Snape thought that perhaps the Headmaster had left, but finally the older man spoke again.

"Perhaps you did Severus, and I apologize. However," He added, his voice snapping to a very business like tone. "I can not have you teaching the students in this state."

"Then fire me." Snape said sarcastically, still refusing to look at Dumbledore.

"You and I both know that there is no other potions professor with credentials such as yours, therefore I refuse to accept your resignation and expect you to be back in the classroom and sober on Monday morning." Dumbledore said formally before his voice switched back to a more personal tone. "I suggest that you don't open anymore fire whiskey during the school year." He said calmly. Snape stiffened.

"I believe what I drink on weekends is up to me Headmaster."

"Yes I believe it is. But I expect that Miss. Weasley will be in need of more time to work on her project if she is going to hand it in on Monday."

"I will not give her an extension." Snape said angrily.

"I should expect not. I will send her to make up for her tutoring on Sunday evening." Dumbledore said calmly. "I will see you at breakfast on Monday?"

"Of course Headmaster." Snape replied, his voice emotionless.

"Excellent. Good evening Severus." Dumbledore bid farewell and there was a soft click as the door latched behind him. Snape dropped his attention from the wall and stared heatedly at the bottle in front of him before sweeping his hand across the desk and smashing it to the floor. _That man always gets his way. _He thought angrily before storming off to his chambers to find another bottle of Fire whiskey. He would drink it in front of his own fire, where no one could find him.

**

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**

**A/N:** Kind of gloomy I know. But it's all part of the story. Thanks to **PyroChk358** and **We B Freaks **once again. And my new reviewer **Masterdeeds**! Glad you took the time to read it, and hey **We B Freaks**, thanks for spreading the word, I appreciate it. Unfortunately I have no food for you guys because I'm broke from going to Bridgewater Exhibition. But imagine I gave you whatever food you want. Thanks again,

-Darth Depravious.


	8. Dunderhead

**Cry Wolf**

**VIII: 'Dunderhead'**

Confused and plagued with a mind that would just not stop arguing with itself about possibilities as to why Professor Snape had treated her so badly Ginny had found that she simply could not stand to be in the common room for any of her Saturday. So, deciding that she needed to get away, she had ascended the stairs to her dormitory marched over to her chest with every intention of finding something that would allow her to get away from the noise and clutter of the students downstairs. It was to her great surprise that when she bent down to undo the latch and throw the trunk open that she spotted a note laying on top of it's eroded, hand-me-down leather top. A burly raven sat next to the note and croaked at her with annoyance before angrily pecking her finger, ushering to hurry up and read the note so that he could leave.

Startled Ginny glanced around the room, wondering where the raven could have come from. Eventually she spotted that the window on the back wall was open and realized he had found his way through. Unfortunately this lapse in attention earned her another peck on the finger to draw her attention back to the note.

"Okay! I'll read your note." She said, trying to avoid anymore jabs to the finger. The bird croaked and ruffled its feathers into a 'you better' threatening posture as it watched her. "You're very rude did you know that?" She asked him scathingly as she picked up the parchment and rubbed her finger, hoping that it would not bruise. He hissed at her which surprised Ginny because she did not know that raven's could hiss, before he gave a little jump and a single beat of his wings, his talons made a clatter as he hastily dropped back onto the trunk top. Rolling her eyes at the bird's persistence Ginny broke the seal of plain black wax, which adorned no design but held the parchment together efficiently before unfolding the creases and holding the parchment towards the light so that she could read it. She quickly identified the spiky black scrawl that streaked across the page as Professor Snape's; she had seen enough snide remarks written onto her essays to know whose it was. Her brow furrowing, she gave the words a once over to make sure they were actually his, which besides being written in a rushed manner which was unusual, they definitely were, before she returned her eyes to the top of the page and read.

_Miss. Weasley,_

_Although last night I was under the impression that the Headmaster would be informing you of this, I was told this morning to write this note my self, which I can assure you was much to my displeasure._

_Because I do not wish to be writing to you and can assume that you do not wish to read anything from me after last night's unpleasantness, I will keep it short. You are to come Sunday night between six and eight pm to make up for the tutoring session that was missed. Do not be late or I will not be present, as with any other meeting._

_-Professor Snape._

Ginny gave the note another go over before tucking it into her pocket, still surprised at how much the Professor had written, especially concerning the fact that the could have wrote _Sunday, 6-8 tutoring, be there! _She had also been surprised at some of the wording in the letter, and at some of the things that he had said.

Suddenly there was a loud croak from the trunk and Ginny jumped, only managing to barely stifle a scream as the raven gave another jump and clattered back onto the top of the trunk. She had forgotten that the bird was there and he had certainly given her a start to re-announce his presence.

"Don't do that!" She scolded the bird, pointing a finger at him but then thinking better of it she quickly drew it away, her finger had enough red peck spots on it already. Instead she placed her hands on her hips and glared at the ebony creature. "I read the note, what more do you want?" She questioned it. The bird croaked again and jumped but this time it glided over to her school bag which was carelessly tossed onto her bed. Surveying the cloth for a minute it then reached it's beak into a side pocket that was left undone and wrestled a quill out of it. _Croak! Croak! _It screeched while jumping up and down, then much to her surprise it spoke.

"_Dunderhead!" _Itsvoice was deep and grittyGinny glared at the bird with annoyance. He was smart, she had to admit that, but it took after its master entirely too much, for there was no doubt in her mind that this bird belonged to Severus Snape. It had a mean attitude that matched the professor perfectly.

"Do you want me to write a reply?" She asked it mockingly while carefully picking up the quill, being sure to move fast if he should dive for her fingers. Searching her pockets she found a spare bit of parchment that was not the note from the professor (which she wanted to keep) and lowered the quill to the parchment, trying to think of what to write.

"_That would suffice." _The bird croaked in an uncanny impersonation. Ginny laughed before writing a short reply. It read:

_Professor Snape,_

_Thank you for the opportunity,_

_I will be there._

_-Ginevra._

She paused after writing, wondering if she should sign as something less personal. After a moments thought she crammed her last name on as well before nodding. The note was good enough, it was short and did the job, but still felt too… _insufficient? _Shaking her head she reminded herself that she could not write the professor a ten page love letter and folded the parchment in half. She did not have a seal so it would have to stay the way it was, it did not much matter if anyone else read it anyway.

Carefully she held the note out to the bird that, after croaking one last time, snatched it from her, only narrowly missing her fingers before swooping across the room and diving out the window, disappearing around the corner of the stone wall. Ginny watched where the bird had been, thinking about how nice it had been for something of Snape's to come visit her, even if it had been the rudest delivery she had every received, it made her smile.

Her attention drifting back to the letter and the professor's choice of words and whole new barrage of questions burst into her mind and Ginny found that she still needed to get away. Wishing she could fly away like the raven had and soar across the tree tops, feeling the wind in her face, Ginny remembered her broom which was stashed under her bed and quickly decided that it was time for a mid-afternoon flight.

Falling to her knees and wrestling the broom out from under the bed, Ginny smiled and dusted some dirt off of the broom, clasping it close to her chest. It was old, and worn, but it was hers and no one else's, and had been no one else's before it was hers. Something that was rare in her life. Quickly deciding that it would not be smart to head back through the common room because people would obviously want to go flying with her, Ginny headed to where the delivery raven had made his exit.

She opened the window as wide as she could and surveyed it before climbing onto her broom and kicking off to hover a few feet above the floor. Slowly she edged her way through the window pane, making sure not to hit the sides, and upon exiting the other side she gave a whoop of triumph and immediately tore away from the castle, feeling the wind whip her hair and a fresh morning scent fill her nostrils. It was then, that after she had evaded all other distractions that her mind drifted back to the note.

He had written that writing such a letter was _much to his displeasure_… Was that displeasure because it was such an embarrassing incident? Or did he just despise the idea of writing to her? And he had also written that he assumed she did not want to read anything from him after last nights events. Was this his way of apologizing? She snorted at this thought as she dove low and let her toes skin the surface of the smooth glassy lake. Severus Snape apologized to no one; he was more than likely warning her that if she told anyone about his behavior she would 'face the consequences.'

A girl nearby shrieked and Ginny whirled around to try to spot the cause of the commotion. A dark shape beneath her surged and Ginny dove upwards towards the clouds as a giant tentacle covered in suckers big enough to engulf her entire face lunged at her but was out of reach as she continued to climb. A few students near the lake applauded at the performance.

"Nice show Weasley!" one of them bellowed. Ginny waved absentmindedly before lazily drifting to the edge of the forest, letting her toes skim the remaining of the brilliant yellow and red leaves, her thoughts continueing to swirl like the kaleidoscope of tree tops below her.

'_Why had Snape been so evil last night? I knew he was mean, but that was just plain demonic.'_

'_**He was drunk, we can't blame him. Who knows what was bothering him.'**_

'_Well, I'm going to find out, if not tomorrow, than I will eventually. I can't let him mope around forever, especially if it's because of something I said.' _She quickly decided, before realizing that she'd had enough fresh air and should save the rest of her flying time for quiddich practice, she headed back towards her dormitory, and squeezed back in through the window.

**

* * *

**

At precisely six pm Sunday night, Ginny raised her small fist and knocked softly on the potions master's office door. After a moments pause she could hear the man rustling around inside while she waited with patience. Finally Snape opened the door and glanced down at her before his eyes darkened with recognition, but what was behind that change Ginny could not tell.

"Ah yes, you know the procedure." He said plainly. His voice was hoarse and unusual from its normal baritone richness. Ginny nodded to show that she understood. Snape frowned, the reason she couldn't tell, before he retreated back into the room and allowed her entrance. Ginny watched the professor go, surprised by his appearance before she headed towards her usual work area. Another surprise caused her eyebrows to shoot up when Snape did not seat himself across from her to grade his usual papers. Instead he headed for the back of the room where he was apparently sorting jars of ingredients and placing them onto different shelves. Ginny watched him for a moment, taking in his appearance.

He was not his usual self, his coal black eyes were bleary and surrounded by whites that were raked through with bloodshot streaks. They did have their usual look, and were shadowed by dark circles, indicating that he had not slept. Also his jaw was covered in a stubbly growth of what looked to be 4-5 day old whiskers.

'_Something is definitely bothering him.' _She thought before gathering her courage she spoke to him.

"Sir?" She asked, gripping a book hard as she waited. Snape did not turn to acknowledge her or give any indication that he had heard her. He just kept piling things onto shelves, a jar of slimy green eyes here, and a bottle of gooey blue whatever there. It was a moment before he answered her, but he did not turn around.

"What is it Miss Weasley?" He asked, his voice was flat and uncaring, of course he had never cared before, but he didn't even put any of his old malice into it, all the while continueing to pile ingredients. Ginny swallowed, wondering if she still dared to ask before deciding that she did.

"Sir, what caused you to miss nearly an entire week of classes?" She asked, watching him closely. Snape visibly stiffened and placed his hands onto the counter below the shelves as if to steady himself, he still did not turn to face her.

"I suggest you get back to work Miss. Weasley." He snapped, his voice regaining some of its old bite but still rasping before he went back to his task, piling the jars slightly faster than before as if it could help him in an attempt to ignore her.

Ginny remained still, she did not even think about opening the book she clutched but continued to watch as Snape sorted his belongings. Wetting her lips with her tongue she gathered another round of courage before speaking again.

"Sir, is it about what I told you? About being related to Lily?" She asked. Snape froze and the room fell into silence, slowly he set down his jar and this time turned to face her. She could tell by looking at him that she had crossed the line, the muscles to his jaw were tightened as he no doubt clenched his teeth in anger and both of his brows roofed his eyes in rage, but when he spoke he was calm, besides the sneer that laced his voice.

"I suppose Miss. Weasley that Potter has told you all about what it was I did that brought his hated of me to a whole new level as of last year." Ginny trembled slightly at the pure rage in his voice but managed to shake her head to sign 'no.' Snape glared at her, his eyes boring into hers for what seemed like an eternity before he crossed his arms over his chest.

"Miss. Weasley, may I remind you that you are here to work on your project and not inquire into my personal matters. Get to work." He barked his lip curling. Ginny looked at the floor before turning back to her project. She didn't want to cross the boundaries any further, Snape was managing to control his anger now but she knew that he could explode at any moment. It was to her surprise that he spoke again. "In the future, I suggest you keep you're nose out of anything that is not you're own business especially when it pertains to me. I'm sure that you can show yourself out when you are through." He said icily before striding past her, he opened a doorway that led to who knows where and slammed it harshly behind him.

Ginny stared at the door with a mix of emotions that she could not identify before slowly she turned back to her project.

'_I went too far.'_

'_**He'll get over it, we'll try again.'**_

'_Maybe…'_

'_**Don't worry, he'll come around.'**_

**

* * *

**

Snape slammed the door shut behind him and stalked down the corridor that led off of his office and to his private chambers, all the while trying to push the thought of the insufferable nosey little red headed Gryffindor out of his mind. _'Why had she asked such things?' _He thought angrily, wanting nothing more to forget what had happened by drowning it away in liquor, but he could not drink, he had to teach tomorrow.

Refraining from ripping at his hair Snape marched into his sitting room where he began to pace, trying to discern the puzzle that was that little brat. He had seen what had been in her eyes, but he could not accept it. General concern had been there, but he could not acknowledge that, no one cared about him, no one asked why he was upset, and no one just _wondered _why he threw himself into rages. They just accepted it. No he could not accept this, or allow it; he could not let that little witch learn why he had been drinking himself into oblivion for the past few days. Concern or no concern, it was most definitely some ill feted gossip plot against him.

'_nice try.' _He thought as he remembered their little contest, their battle of wits. Crossing his arms he stopped pacing and smirked with revelation. So this was what she was getting at, and he had played right into it. He admitted it was a battle won for her, but she would not win the war. Next time, he would show her where her place was.

**

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**A/N: **I still can't believe I'm getting so many review let alone repeat reviews for this story. Thank you all so much. **Masterdeeds**, please tell me if you think I've improved with what you suggested. Also, thanks to **PyroChk358, Admiral Jackal**, and newcomers **Junsui** and **Green-eyed-Angel**. I appreciate you all, have some smoothies!


	9. Illusions

**Cry Wolf**

**IX: Illusions**

If the students of Hogwarts thought that the return of their most hated potions professor would mean the return of his normal snide remarks and general hate for the entire student body, Ginny knew that they had another thing coming. Although they didn't think it was possible for Snape to reach any level of horridness lower than what he had already possessed, they soon discovered that Monday marked the coming of a Snape like no one had ever seen. Where ever he stalked down the halls students jumped aside and gave him a berth wide enough for a ravenous hippogriff less they should inflict his wrath. Ginny noted that points were being deducted as if there were no tomorrow and detentions with filch were piling high, even the Slytherins saw their fair share of punishments, although it was still less than that of any other house, especially Gryffindor.

A tired and haggard disposition, bleary bloodshot eyes, and a permanent expression of anger accompanied the professor wherever he went, clinging to him as if they were the robes he wore, and although he had shaved and apparently washed his hair so it would return to its normal greasy state, Ginny had to admit that it did no better for him. He still looked as stressed as ever.

Much of his time spent Glaring at students in class as if he would jump down their throats for breathing too loudly, everyone certainly kept a good distance, determined not to bother him by even defending themselves, no one even thought to try to help the professor overcome what was eating away at him, they all just sat tight and hoped the raging storm of anger would pass, but to no avail, Snape continued to act just as mean for weeks on end, his determination to torture them all never faltering once. Still no on thought to try to solve the problem themselves, no one that is except Ginny Weasley.

"Miss Weasley! Why on earth are you not working?" The very professor of darkness bellowed across the room, fixing her with possibly his worst ever I-wish-you –were-dead sneer of all time while his spidery fingers curled around the pile of parchments he was clutching, bending them slightly. Ginny jumped, unknowingly she had been watching the professor and trying to figure out how she could get him to confess what was bothering him so badly. For the past few weeks she had been waiting for every and any opportunity to try and squeeze it out of him during her tutoring, but either the moment never came or Snape told her over and over again to get back to work and mind her own business. Now, as they neared the middle of October Ginny was beginning to worry, how much longer could he possibly do this to himself?

Apparently the professor had noticed her lack of concentration that had spanned throughout the entire class and definitely affected her potion because it was now a sickly yellow colour instead of the deep orange that it should be. Sighing at her misfortune she banished the potion with a flick of her wand, knowing that it was beyond repair. "Well? Answer the question." Snape commanded, not allowing her to simply sink back into her thoughts. Ginny took a deep breath as she was pulled into the storm.

"I made a mistake on my potion sir, it is ruined." She dare not say anymore but focused her attention on the table top as she waited for more points to be stricken from her house.

"Twenty points from Gryffindor for day dreaming in class and another thirty for wasting my ingredients and time." He snarled. Ginny glanced up to see that his teeth were bared in anger. Unfortunately he must have thought her looking was insolence because he decided to dish out more punishment. "For the rest of class you will write lines, 500 of 'I will not waste class time', and if you are not finished by the bell you will write 500 more for homework." He snapped before returning to his work, not forgetting to flash a look of disdain in her direction. Ginny gritted her teeth.

'_That man is so difficult!'_

'_**But so sexy.'**_

'_Oh yea, that's why I bother with him.'_

'_**Damn straight.'**_

Ginny huffed at her own obsession with such a man, while fetching some parchment. After dipping her quill into her ink she began to write her lines, _I will not waste class time, I will not waste class time, I will not waste class time, _over and over and over.

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"For the rest of class you will write lines, 500 of 'I will not waste class time', and if you are not finished by the bell you will write 500 more for homework." Snape snapped, flashing the Gryffindor a look of disdain before laying the now wrinkled parchments onto his desk and returning to his work, marking the dismal essays with his stronger than usual hate filled vigor.

'_That will show that damned witch her place.' _He sneered inwardly before taking five points off of an essay for a misspelled word. _'If she wants to play her hand at such a competition she should reconsider her chances. She plays dirty but I can play dirtier.' _Again he took away more marks for a sentence that didn't make sense. He knew that the Gryffindor stood little chance against him in such a battle of wits; she did not have the heart for it, while his heart was cold and had been cold, for how many years he couldn't even remember. He had done some mean things in his life, evil things, things that could not be forgiven.

Absentmindedly he scratched his left fore-arm where he had been branded with evil so many years ago. Unwillingly he thought of Lily, and then forcefully bit his tongue. _'No.' _He told himself firmly, _'I will not remember that now!' _but the thought would not pass, and images continued to flash through the back of his mind while he tried his best to ignore them.

Thank Merlin it was Friday; he didn't have to worry about teaching tomorrow. Tonight he could do as he pleased, he thought as he remembered the bottle of liquor in his office that waited to wipe his mind clean for a few hours of ignorant peace. He did not remember that he was scheduled to tutor a certain Gryffindor that evening.

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Once again, Ginny knocked on the dark wooden door of professor Snape's office, marveling at the fact that she had been to this room more times this year than in her entire life. Tapping her foot patiently against the cold stone floor she waited for Snape to come answer the door but was met by only silence. Puzzled she knocked on the door again as she remembered what she had been met by last time this had occurred. Was he drunk again?

"Professor? I'm here to work on my project." She called through the door. There was another moments silence before his voice drifted through the door, no more than a faint murmur. Ginny strained her ears to hear what he as saying but his voice was too deep and didn't carry well through walls, or closed doors in her case. Deciding that she would take his unintelligible mumble as a yes Ginny tried the knob and opened the door when she found that it was unlocked which was a surprise.

Her eyes wandering to the desk as she stepped into the room, it was it empty. Essays were still piled in front of it, but no one was seated in the wooden chair to mark them. Immediately her eyes darted to the fireplace as her suspicion was proved.

Seated in the black wingback chair and slouched so that his chin touched his chest, an empty bottle clasped in his hand that dangled over the arm of the chair was a very groggy, very, _very _drunkprofessor Snape.

"Professor?" Ginny asked, unsure of what else to say. She closed the door behind her so that anyone passing by outside would not see him in such a state. "Professor, are you all right?"

"Ummbff?" He groaned as his eyes cracked open, sliding in and out of focus before finally fixing onto her figure by the door. He stared at her a few moments without recognition from below half closed lids before they flew open and the bottle in his grasp slid from his fingers, clattering to the floor. Ginny noticed that three others lay nearby, all empty. She could tell that he was trying to speak, but his voice would not come in his drunken state.

"Perhaps, I should go." She suggested, turning back towards the door. Snape would be angry enough that she had seen him like this twice, if he remembered when he woke tomorrow morning. She had just placed her hand onto the door knob when something made her pause.

"No, don't go." He croaked from his chair, sounding much like the raven that had delivered her letter. Ginny turned to face him to see that he had stood and was swaggering towards her, she felt irritated by the fact that his expression was still unreadable even when he was so intoxicated.

A dull thud echoed through the room as he ran into his desk and listed to the side, not thinking Ginny dropped her books and raced to catch him. He swayed against her, trying to find his balance as she gripped his hand in hers and used her other to steady his wobbly stance. His breath reeked of the fire whiskey and Ginny wrinkled her nose as she guided him back to the chair where he staggered sideways before collapsing into it. She made to draw her hand away but he shook his head and clutched it tighter.

"Don't disappear again." He muttered, his voice slurred. Ginny's brow furrowed and she forgot that his hand held hers quite tightly, his knuckles white. What was he talking about?

"I haven't disappeared sir, I've always been… somewhere." She answered, knowing it sounded stupid, but how else was she supposed to answer such a question? Who had ever heard of someone disappearing before?" Snape shook his head with great effort and stared into her eyes from under his half closed ones.

"Yes you did… years ago… I heard it… my fault." He mumbled making no sense, his voice was barely above a whisper and Ginny found herself leaning closer to try to catch what he was saying. She jumped back suddenly when his chin dropped to his chest and a soft snore emitted from him, his hand released its grip on hers but still lay on top of it, rested on the chair's arm. Ginny blushed at the awkwardness of the situation and tried to carefully move her hand out from under his but he snorted as he woke and clutched for it again.

"No… don't… Lily, stay." He growled as he once again enclosed her hand in a death grip. Ginny stiffened as it dawned on her.

'_He thinks I'm lily." _She realized, now understanding his rambling. She remembered some pictures she had seen of lily, she didn't look much like her to tell the truth, but they both had green eyes and red hair, and that must have been enough to close the illusion for the potions professor.

"Don't go… my fault… Stay this time…" He muttered as his head again fell to his chest and he began to snore, more loudly this time. Ginny slowly drew her hand out of his and stepped back, he stirred but didn't wake, his head only fell sideways, his hair spilling onto his face as he continued to snore. Ginny watched him as thoughts raced through her mind.

Somehow, he thought that Lily's death was his fault, and she could only assume, that when he had discovered that he had been related to the one he supposedly caused the death of, the blow had struck him double.

'_**That is why he has been so upset.'**_

'_There has to be more to it than that, why does he blame himself? How could it be his fault?'_

'_**Who knows? But we won't get any more answers out of him tonight. He's not going to wake up again.'**_

Ginny again glanced down at the professor and realized that it was true, he was now snoring so loudly under his hair that she did not know how it hadn't interrupted her form her thoughts.

Feeling a rush of sympathy towards the wizard Ginny bent and brushed his hair out of his face, pinning it behind his ear, then realizing what she had done she quickly gathered her books and fled the dungeon just in case by some freak chance he should wake up and recognize her for who she really was.

'_Oh Merlin, what if he remembers?" _Was all that she could think as she raced back to the tower?

'**_Then maybe he'll get the message.' _**Ginny smiled at this thought, her chest feeling warm as she thought of the illusion of herself in the professors' arms.

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**A/N: **YAYmore drunken Snape and a very mushy Ginny! Thanks to all of you who reviewed. I don't have the energy to thank you all individually right now, so I hope you all can understand. Thanks again.

-Darth Depravious.


	10. Wolf Cry

**Cry Wolf**

**X: Wolf Cry**

A moan sounded through Snape's cold dungeon office as the man shifted in his chair and sat up. His head pounded with the sudden movement as the liquor's toxins still radiated throughout his body, but he forced himself to ignore it. Luckily for him the torches on the wall had burnt out sometime throughout the night so he did not have to worry about his eyes being harassed with their assaulting light.

Slowly he gathered himself together and then stood clutching to the side of the chair as his vision whirled and he fought to keep his balance, finally the spell passed but through the confusion and whirlwind of random thoughts something had come back to him, a dream he had been having. Someone had been there in that dream, someone strangely familiar, but who had it been? Scanning his mind he felt a sharp twinge of pain as if his brain were trying to refuse him of such deep thought when it was still so disoriented but he again ignored it as he searched for the memory. A face flooded into his vision and he felt himself turn to ice as a name chained itself to that face. How could it be? He had used the liquor as a diversion, to forget about her, but she still continued to haunt him.

He had dreamt about Lily, dreamt about being in this very dungeon, he had been pleading with her but about what he could not remember, and what she had done had also refused to be acknowledge, except for the single image of her hand clasping his as she helped him to walk. Rubbing his hand through his greasy hair in frustration he felt the dream slipping away from him as if it were water flooding through his fingers until he could only remember that there had been a dream and nothing else.

With a snarl he quickly forgot about trying to remember the dream, he did not need this nonsense. A wave of surprise swept these thoughts from him as his hand pulled his hair loose from where it had been pinned behind his ear, allowing it to quickly flood back into his face. Since when had his hair ever been pinned behind his ear? He pondered over the situation, as far as he knew he had never participated in that habit in his entire life. But if that were true, how had it gotten there?

Shaking his head and deciding that this was far too confusing to think about in his troublesome hangover state, plus the fact the his head still pounded and he had a crick in his spine from sleeping in such an odd position, he quickly dismissed this oddity as an effect of the alcohol and moved to his desk, thinking that the would put off drinking for a while he settled behind the highly polished wooden surface he peered through the darkness, with no intention of lighting the torches as he began to mark the essays of those unfortunate enough to be receiving their marks while he was in such a state.

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Although most of Snape's weekend was filled with heated moments of anger and fits of rage as he continuously tried to force himself to remember a 'dream' that just wouldn't grace him with it's presence, Ginny's weekend could be nothing less than the exact opposite.

Every time she passed a couple in the hallway, the two holding hands and talking softly her mind would race back to the memory of what had occurred on Friday night when her hand had been clasped in Snape's. She would watch the two as they sauntered along and would remember the incident as well as feel a pang of jealousy. As real as the event had been; she knew it would never happen again. But still she had the memory, and although a niggling voice in the back of her mind constantly reminded her of how drunk the professor had been she refused to acknowledge the circumstances under which the incident had occurred, the fact that it had taken place was good enough for her.

In short, the results of her visit to the dungeons had left her feeling happy and fulfilled and yet empty and lonely at the same time. It was especially when the couples passed that she realized just how lonely, because that would certainly never be her with the potions professor.

'_I should just forget the whole thing.' _She told herself angrily one night as she sat on the windowsill of her dorm room, wrapped in a blanket and gazing out across Hogwarts grounds through the frost that covered the window panes. It was really beginning to turn quite cold as fall rushed through its cycle, clearing the way for winter to make its entrance. She smiled, suddenly anticipating the Halloween feast that would be taking place in roughly two and a half week's time.

'**_Nonsense, you're a Weasley, Weasley's do not give up, no matter how hard the task.' _**Her conscience chastised, obviously setting her in her place. Ginny tried to think up an argument for this but quickly gave up on it, as much as she doubted that she would ever have a relationship with Snape, the thought of convincing herself that it was not possible was one she did not wish to explore right at this moment.

Suddenly a low mournful howl drifted in through the window and cut into her thoughts, breaking her out of her silent argument. The sound dragged on and on, low and pitiful as if it were filled with all of the sadness in the world. Quickly shifting her weight so that she could peer between one of the frost gaps on the window pane she spotted the dark outline of a wolf near the lake, its head tipped back as the dismal sound continued to drain from it. Curiously she wondered if it was the same wolf that had given her such a fright during her little jaunt around the grounds over a month ago.

"He sounds so sad…" Ginny said softly to herself as she watched its head fall and then tip back in another wolf cry of anguish. Did wolves even have feeling as humans did? She remembered her classes with Hagrid in care of magical creatures and how some of the beasts they had tended to had certainly seemed almost human, especially the hippogriffs who listened closely to conversations beingabsolutely sure that insults were not being thrown their way, but those had been magical creatures, could regular animals react the same way?

'_Maybe Grawp has chased him out of his home.' _She thought as she remembered just which one of Hagrid's relatives currently resided in the forests' dangerous depths. As soon as this possibility leaped into her mind she clung to it, it was the most plausible; why else would the creature venture out of the forest? Besides the time it had come to investigate the racquet that she had made of course. _If, _however remote the possibility it was even the same wolf that had appeared to her on that night.

Feeling a rush of sympathy towards the creature she silently wished it the best before leaving her windowsill. With a wide yawn she tried to rub the sleep out of her eyes before she gave up, wrapped the blanket a little tighter around herself and wandered off to bed.

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**A/N: **Because I am really, really, really bored and waiting for laundry to finish drying, I thought I'd personally answer reviews from the last two chapters, especially because I didn't do so last time. (Yes I know this chapter is short and I apologize, but there just wasn't anything else to work into this stage, it is just how the story is going.)

**From Chapter 8:**

**Masterdeeds:** Thank you for you're kind words and do not worry about the wolf, as you can see he appeared in this chapter, and he will appear again. But as for Snape ignoring his rounds, it is unlikely; after all, belittling students would be just the thing to help him clear his thoughts. Nothing distracts better than getting someone into trouble. :)

**PyroChk358:** You always have something nice to say, and yes I agree that squiddy does rock.

**Junsui:** Don't count on Snape figuring it out real soon, he's a bit slow when it comes to matters such as these. ;)

**Admiral Jackal:** Thanks a lot.

**Green-eyed-angel:** Thanks for the review and I do agree that Snape is more believable when he is written mean, that's partly why I wrote him this way.

**We b Freaks:** Glad you liked the raven and don't worry, we'll see him again.

**From Chapter 9**

**Green-eyed-Angel, Junsui, and Admiral jackal:** another thanks, glad you could review.

**Eriksdiva:** Glad you took the time to take a read and even gladder (which should be a word even though it's not, but then again maybe it is I'm not sure.) that you enjoyed it.

Okay, so there's the review responds, sorry but I have to say again that I only did this individually because I was really extremely bored, I wouldn't count on a complete respond to every review happening again (sorry). But if anyone says anything… interesting… I'll be sure to respond to it for everyone to see; perhaps it will get people guessing.

Oh, does anyone want to finish my laundry for me?

-Darth Depravious


	11. You Failed Miserably By The Way

**Cry Wolf**

**XI: 'You failed Horribly By The Way.'**

"Ginny, Ginny wake up!" Anna-Rose bellowed as she tackled the still sleeping Ginny. Apparently she had just rushed up from the common room; Ginny however was still tired and not at all ready to get up yet.

"Anna, what has gotten into you?" She moaned as she rolled over and tried to rub the sleep out of her eyes while they watered all over her fingers from the change of light they were desperately trying to adjust to.

"Ginny you won't believe what McGonagall has done! She's cancelled classes for today; we're playing our quiddich game against Slytherin in a couple of hours." Anna exclaimed while jumping up and down on the bed.

"We're what?" Ginny shrieked while sitting stark upright. How could they play their quiddich game now? It wasn't supposed to be until the weekend! "Why?" She demanded as Anna continued to jump around with glee.

"Something about Barry having to go home tomorrow because his grandma is sick, he's Slytherins seeker you know, but anyway he won't be coming back until next Monday so McGonagall thought that instead of postponing the game she would bump it up." Ginny groaned and lightly pulled her hair as her usual quiddich jitters started to set into place. She was going to be playing in _two hours! _How could she possibly be expected to play today? She had barely gotten any sleep last night while she had pondered how to find out if Snape remembered about the incident or not.

"This is horrible!" She wailed. "How can you be so excited? I've been playing longer than you and I still get nervous." Ginny spread her hands in questioning while Anna continued to jump, but by now she had moved to her own bed. Ginny caught a glimpse of her shrugging.

"I don't know." Anna said truthfully. "I guess I'm not the nervous type, besides all I can think about is that we get to miss potions!" She added with glee, and then she jumped one last time before allowing herself to fall onto her bottom. Ginny felt her spirits drop at the notion of missing potions but then shook her head and exploded from under her covers with panic.

"Oh, I've got to get ready! Where's my uniform? Where's my broom?" She asked frantically while dodging around her bed in search of them. Anna offered no help from where she sat but giggled as she watched Ginny panic. Finally after nearly twenty minutes of searching Ginny was fully dressed in her uniform and clutching her broom. She then forced a very hyper active Anna-Rose who was already dressed and prepared to accompany her to the pitch.

"But what about breakfast?" Anna had whined, trying to convince Ginny that they should eat but Ginny shook her head and dragged her friend past the great hall and out through the front doors.

"No time for breakfast, we have to get some practice flight in before the game." Ginny said bluntly, while ignoring the gurgle in her own stomach. If she was going to play against Slytherin a week ahead of schedule and be expected to be on the top of her game then she had to get warmed up. Slytherin had a much better team than last year; all of their chasers were not only talented but twice the size of the Gryffindor chasers. Their beaters seemed to enjoy inflicting pain, their keeper was as quick as lightning and Barry Binnetly, much as she hated to admit it, had eyes like a hawk.

"Fine, we'll go get some damn practice, but you better believe that you're going to be sneaking me food form the kitchens afterwards." Anna said hotly before stomping after Ginny, which was a relief because Ginny no longer had to waste her energy dragging her.

"If we win I won't have to, the whole house will do it for me." Ginny said smartly. "C'mon I'll race you." She added before jumping onto her broom and tearing off towards the pitch.

"Ginny! That is no fair you had a head start!" She heard Anna bellow from behind her before glancing back to see her friend kicking off. Ginny laughed and leaned closer to her broom, putting on a burst of speed.

"Catch me if you can!" She screamed before darting into a climb so that she could fly in from over the pitch walls. But Anna didn't catch her, she was too far behind.

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"And here comes the Slytherin team! Beaters Patterson, and McCauley, chasers Scizzerit, Activby, and Reets, keeper Chazef and seeker, Binnetly!" The voice of Luna Lovegood drifted across the quiddich pitch as the Slytherin team darted out of their changing room as their names were called and then began a slow circle around the pitch. ¾ of the crowd met them with rounds of boo's and hissing while the Slytherins screamed at the top of their lungs to show their support. Ginny gripped her broom tight, trying to fight the butterflies that were battering themselves off of the sides of her stomach.

Anna-Rose looked very grey beside her and Ginny snorted as she remembered what she had said. _'Not the nervous type indeed.' _The stress of the game had eventually caught up to Anna-Rose, the poor girl had retched twice in the locker room before Ginny had cast a calming spell on her, but it had done little to help, her knees still shook as she waited to take off on her broom.

"And now let's bring in the Gryffindors," Luna announced, the majority of the crowd cheered while the Slytherins made sure that their own boo's and hisses were well heard. "And here they are. Beaters Peakes and Coote!" The two boys ahead of Ginny zoomed out of the changing room doorway, "Chasers Bell," Katie tore off after them, "Frizzen," Anna-Rose nervously zipped out of the doorway, "and Weasley." Ginny gripped her broom and dashed out of the doorway, letting the wind against her face calm her nerves while Luna called out their new keeper Dormotley and their still shaky seeker, Zwicker.

The seven players completed their lap of the pitch until Madame Hooch blew her whistle, signaling the teams to meet in the center of the field, Katie Bell and the Slytherin captain shook hands while Madame Hooch gave her usual speech about a fair and safe game. Then, before Ginny had time to catch her breath the whistle was blown and the red quaffle was being thrown into the air.

"And there they go, Bell in possession, passes to Weasley," Luna said almost lazily as Katie dashed forward and then chucked the quaffle to Ginny, who tucked it under her arm and began to rush her way towards the Slytherin goal posts, only to find herself being blocked by Activby who gave her a wicked grin. Searching around her she quickly spotted Anna and tossed the quaffle in her direction.

"Weasley passes to Frizzen, and oh she's dropped it." Luna said with disappointment as Anna swerved the wrong way and missed the quaffle, her face turning bright red in embarrassment. Ginny heard Activby laugh before darting away.

"Quaffle is caught by Reets, Reets passes to Scizzerit, and both are looking pretty unstoppable. C'mon Ginny, get that quaffle, don't just sit there in mid air." Luna said, egging her on.

"Miss. Lovegood, please stick to what is happening in the game." The voice of Professor McGonagall cut through the commentary. Ginny shook her head and pulled herself out of her trance before dashing after the Slytherin chasers.

"Of course professor, Both Weasley and Bell are now on hot pursuit, Frizzen is falling behind though."

'_C'mon Anna-Rose!' _Ginny silently urged her friend as she pulled up next to Scizzerit, suddenly very aware of how much larger he was then her. Taking a deep breath she tried to knock the quaffle out of his hands but he swerved out of her reach.

"Scizzerit passes to Activby; Bell is closing in on him!" Ginny watched as Scizzerit tossed the ball to Activby who caught it and headed towards the goal posts, Katie right on his heels. "She's almost caught him!" Katie pulled up next to Activby and was reaching for the quaffle; it was almost in her reach.

Just then there was a loud thwack of wood connecting with something solid, and a whizzing sound accompanied by something rushing by Ginny's shoulder.

"Slytherin beater Patterson has jumped into the action. Watch out for that bludger Bell!" Luna warned, Katie snapped her head around and spotted the bludger, she swerved to avoid it and then went back to chasing Actviby, but during the distraction Activby had passed to the other Slytherin Chaser.

"Activby passes to Reets, all three Gryffindor chasers are too far away to do anything, Reets advances on Gryffindor keeper Dormotley," Ginny watched the advance with her teeth clenched knowing it was too late to try to stop them. "Reets throws, Dormotley swerves left, too bad the ball went right, Slytherin scores." Luna said disappointedly. Ginny cursed before rushing forward to take the quaffle and make another attempt on the Slytherin goal.

For the next half hour play continued much the same way, Slytherin scored four more times, Gryffindor received a penalty shot because Activby had rammed into Katie, but the Slytherin keeper Chazef had blocked it with ease, after which Slytherin had scored again. As usual the crowd erupted into a chorus of boo's while the Slytherin end of the pitch cheered and openly expressed their glee. Ginny could only imagine the smug look that Snape would be wearing but when she searched for him among the stands she didn't find him.

"Game stands at sixty to zero for Slytherin, Gryffindor in possession with Frizzen taking the quaffle." Luna announced as a very grey Anna-Rose tucked the quaffle under her arm and began to race towards the other end of the pitch. Ginny turned and dashed forward, keeping pace with Anna in case she should decide to pass.

Suddenly from nowhere the Slytherin beater McCauley was in Anna's way and when she made to swerve he swerved with her, there was a dull thud as the two players collided, Anna dropping the quaffle and swinging off of her broom. Screaming as she dangled only left gripping on by one hand while McCauley at such a greater size was barely even daunted.

Madame Hooch's whistle rang through the air as she called for a penalty shot to be taken by Anna for Gryffindor. McCauley shot Anna a very evil look before darting away, Ginny glared at him while helping Anna back onto her broom.

"And it appears that a penalty of interference will be called against the Slytherin team. Frizzen is going to be making the shot." Luna informed the audience.

"Here you are Frizzen, all right on you're broom are you?" Madame Hooch asked as she handed Anna the quaffle. Anna nodded that she was fine before lining up to take the shot. Ginny watched her heart racing.

'_C'mon Anna, show them who's boss.' _She thought, silently encouraging her friend. Anna-Rose took a deep breath before squaring her shoulders and zipping forward, the quaffle tucked securely under her arm, her eyes set firm as she watched the Slytherin keeper bob up and down, waiting for her.

"And she's off, can Frizzen make the goal? She hasn't shown much potential yet but perhaps this will be her moment to prove that…" Luna suddenly faltered and Ginny's stomach filled with dread as she realized what must be happening. _'Don't let it be Binnetly!' _She thought urgently as she whipped her broom around and searched frantically for any sign of either seeker. She didn't notice that every other player except for Anna had also done the same. (Consequently Anna made the goal.)

"It appears as if Zwicker has spotted the snitch!" Luna said excitedly as the Gryffindor seeker sped into a reckless dive, angling himself towards the Gryffindor goalposts where a tiny glint of gold could be seen darting around its base. "Now Binnetly has seen it too and he's gone after the tiny ball." Luna added. Ginny's glance darted to the Slytherin seeker Barry as he spotted the snitch and tore towards it.

'_He's so much closer!' _Ginny thought as she desperately wished that Zwicker would go faster. In actuality the two seekers arrived at the goal posts at the same time, the snitch darted away from both of them and fluttered up the side of the pitch walls, both boys banked sharply and tore after it, neck to neck in their pursuit. Both reached out hands as they closed in on the tiny blink of gold, flying dangerously close to the ground, the toes of both boy's were dragging in the grass.

A unified breath was drawn in around the stadium style seating as the crowd waited for a fist to close around the game winning ball, but suddenly the two boys tripped each other up and crashed into the ground in a heap, lucky they had been flying so low that neither would be seriously hurt.

The crowd moaned as they assumed that they snitch had gotten away but Ginny kept her breath held, she had not seen a glint of gold darting away from the crashing seekers.

"Is it gone? Did it get away or was it caught?" Luna asked as both boys tried to detangle themselves from each other, both looking equally disgusted.

"Well, if one of you has caught it please share it with the rest of the stadium!" McGonagall barked over the pitch, her magnified voice sounding very irritably indeed.

'_C'mon Zwicker!' _Ginny mumbled as she watched the two boys get shakily to their feet. The whole school was so focused on the two seekers that no one noticed that Activby was repeatedly throwing the quaffle through the Gryffindor goalpost.

"Well?" McGonagall asked again. Zwicker quickly detangled his robes from around Binnetly's arm and then stalked away angrily, Ginny's hopes fell as she watched as Barry smirked and raised his fist in triumph, a pair of tiny gold wings beating from between his fingers. The crowd around them groaned again while the Slytherins exploded in triumph.

"Slytherin seeker Binnetly had caught the snitch." Luna said glumly. "Slytherin takes the game, final score, Gryffindor ten, Slytherin two hundred and ten." Ginny slowly glided to the ground where she met the rest of the team who all looked glum. Anna looked especially upset. But as Katie joined them she gave them each an approving look.

"Wipe those looks off of your faces." She scolded. "You all have nothing to be ashamed about, you all played wonderfully, we just had a bit of bad luck that's all. You did especially well for your first game Anna, and Zwicker, you were marvelous." She commented the team. Anna blushed and grinned with pride at the captains comments while Zwicker blushed with what Ginny thought might be crush induced embarrassment before looking at his shoes and kicking a random rock. "Now all of you hit the showers, I will not have a stinky team." Katie joked before heading towards the changing room, ignoring the Slytherins as they did their victory lap. Ginny giggled before falling in behind.

**

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**

After the game and after they had all showered and changed, Katie informed the team that they had missed lunch, so to make up for it she was going to accompany them all to the kitchens and they were going to have a feast courtesy of the house elves.

Everyone cheered, Ginny especially, she was feeling ravenous since she had also missed breakfast, and after much joking around and laughing they made their way to the kitchens, tickled the pear and went inside. Much to Ginny's surprise they were met by Dobby who was wearing a violent green sock matched with another white sock that had red and blue stripes, his sweater was the one that Ron had given him last year and his tea cozy that he wore on his head was a deep shade of purple.

"What can Dobby be getting for the sirs and misses?" He had asked with a squeaky voice and a curt bow upon their entrance. Katie smiled at him.

"We, dear Dobby, have just lost our first quiddich game of the season and were wondering if a feast would be out of the question?" She asked gently. Dobby gave her a look as if she were mad for wanting to celebrate losing, his eyes passed over the rest of the group before spotting Ginny and widening.

"Anything for the girlfriend of the great Harry Potter, Dobby will fetch Miss Weasley and her friends some food right away." He said before rushing off. Peakes, Coote, Katie and Anna-Rose all flashed Ginny amused looks while Zwicker and Dormotley, who had not known that she had been dating Harry, watched her with a mixture of confusion and awe. Ginny blushed deeply and made a mental note not to be seen by Dobby again for quite some time. She didn't bother to tell them that she was no longer with Harry.

When the food appeared they all sat down at the replica of the Gryffindor house table that was directly above them and dug in. Throughout the meal Katie constantly talked about tactics for their next game against Hufflepuff while everyone else talked about the thrill of missing classes for the rest of the day. After their bellies were full and Dobby had cleared away the plates, Zwicker produced a deck of exploding snap cards and he, Peakes and Coote set up to play while the rest of the team watched and talked. It was a very long time that they sat there before anyone realized that it was nearly curfew.

"By Merlin, it's nearly curfew!" Anna-Rose had exclaimed after glancing at her watch. "We should get back to the tower." Everyone agreed that they better get back before curfew and stood to leave. They all thanked Dobby for the food. Dobby blushed furiously and mumbled something about it being his job before rushing away from the attention with a tear in his eye. The team watched him go before piling out of the portrait where they were met by a very unpleasant voice.

"Well, if it isn't the Gryffindor quiddich team." Snape said icily as he paused in his stride and turned to face them, a sneer on his face. "And what, may I ask; are you all doing in the kitchen which is _out of bounds_ to students?" He asked, raising an eyebrow and smoothing the front of his robes. The group of students stood startled for a moment before Katie stepped forward.

"I'm sorry professor, but we missed lunch and were really quite hungry so we-"

"Did it occur to you Miss Bell," Snape interrupted, "That you could have asked a teacher to bring you some food, or, since the game only ended right after three, that you could have forced your team mates to wait the two hours until supper?" He asked, crossing his arms over his chest, Ginny found she was watching him at full attention and wondering how his chest would feel before she quickly shook herself out of it and looked to the floor.

"No sir, I didn't think that-"

"Exactly Miss Bell, you didn't _think_ at all. Twenty points from Gryffindor for breaking school rules." He paused and his bloodshot eyes glinted menacingly as they spotted Ginny. "And Miss. Weasley, I can assume this is the reason that you did not show up for tutoring." He barked. Ginny forced herself to look up lest risk loosing more points from her house.

"But sir, McGonagall canceled classes for the day-" She began but Snape interrupted her, much as he had already done twice to Katie.

"That may be Miss. Weasley, but tutoring is not a class, it is _tutoring. _I expect you to come half an hour early next session, and prepared to work hard, this will be the only make up time I will give you." He snapped before turning his attention back to the entire group. "As for the rest of you, get back to your dormitory now. And if I catch any of you in the kitchens again it will be detention with filch for a week." He scowled, then strode past them and deeper into the dungeons, his black robes billowing behind him.

"Greasy git." Zwicker growled once Snape was out of earshot. The rest of the team except Ginny joined in cursing the professor's name while they ascended the stairs into the great hall and headed towards the larger staircase that led to the common room.

"Doesn't he just drive you mad Ginny?" Anna asked hotly as she jumped over the trick step. Ginny shrugged.

"Sometimes," She admitted. "But I'm just glad he didn't take away more points or give me a detention for missing tutoring." She said with another shrug. Anna's brows furrowed and she gave Ginny a mystified look.

"Hey, yea, why do you reckon he didn't do that?" She asked, looking even more perplexed. Once again Ginny shrugged.

"Who knows, maybe he's tired." She suggested.

'_**Or maybe he's catching on.'**_

'_Nonsense, he hates me as much as he ever did.'_

'_**Well duh, but you know what he was doing don't you?'**_

'_No, what?'_

"_**Battling you're wits. You failed horribly by the way.'**_

Ginny cursed as she realized that it was true but then smirked. So the mighty potions master had finally gained his point back. Well she'd show him.

"What's the matter Ginny?" Anna asked as she heard her friend cursing.

"Nothing, just stubbed my toe." Ginny lied, Anna-Rose rolled her eyes as if to say you-are-such-a-wuss, before she spoke the password to the fat lady and crawled through the portrait hole. Ginny smiled at Anna's complete obliviousness before following.

**

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**

A/N: Wow I think this is the longest chapter I've ever written. Thanks again for reviews, no one's said anything interesting though, so I have nothing to answer to, or do I? Maybe I'm lying eh? Or then again maybe you're lying, and I'm falling for it, or maybe it's, never mind I just made my own brain hurt.

So here's a quick fact that has nothing to do with anything I just said anything about. Did you know that male elephants have nipples in their armpits? Yeah, made me think too.

Sorry for being so weird today, I don't really know what's gotten into me.

-Darth Depravious.


	12. The Truth Comes Out

**Cry Wolf**

**XII: The Truth Comes Out.**

On Tuesday morning Ginny woke to a tiny niggling of nerves in the back of her head that every hour or so would direct her attention back to the night she had met a very drunk Snape in his office, and she would again wonder whether he remembered about the incident or not. On Wednesday things only got worse as the nerves became more persistent and by the time that Friday, the end of the week, and the night that she would be spending two and a half hours of her time in the company of the potions master with, she was a complete nervous wreck. Although she didn't look it because growing up with Fred and George you had to learn to hide your every weakness, her mind was filled with nothing but questions and buzzed so loudly that she was afraid people sitting next to her in class would hear it.

'_If he knows I will be in so much trouble, I be that's why he made me come a half hour early, so that he could fit in some punishment.'_

'_**If he knows then why wouldn't he yell at you when he caught you in the kitchens?'**_

'_Because he wouldn't admit to the rest of the **Gryffindor** quiddich team that I saw him drunk.'_

'**_True, but he could have always held you back, trust me, he doesn't know.'_**

'_You don't know that he doesn't know.'_

'_**Of course I do.'**_

'_And how would you know?'_

'_**I just do.'**_

"Well that's just stupid." Ginny said out loud, ceasing the argument with herself, she really had to stop those; she was even beginning to make herself worry.

"Is there a problem Miss. Weasley?" Professor McGonagall asked sternly. Ginny looked up from the toad she was supposed to be transforming into a skink before blushing.

"No professor." She said sheepishly. The transfiguration professor gave her a searching look before deciding that she didn't care what Ginny had been talking to herself about.

"I suggest you get back to work then." She dismissed with a nod towards Ginny's toad.

"Yes Professor." Ginny replied as she glanced at her toad, so far it had only grown green scaly skin to replace its usual brown warty texture. Taking a deep breath and pointing her wand at the creature she was satisfied when a small tail began to grow from behind its legs.

**

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**

"Can you pass the pumpkin juice Ginny?" Anna-Rose asked as they both sat at the Gryffindor table in the great hall, dining on roast beef, mashed potatoes and carrots. Ginny passed her friend the flask of pumpkin juice and continued chewing the slab of beef in her mouth.

"Thanks." Anna said as she took the flask from her and poured a tall glass of the orange liquid. Ginny made an 'emmppff' sound to say you're welcome and show that she was chewing at the same time. Anna merely shook her head and rolled her eyes before returning to her own dinner.

Ginny swallowed her beef and ate another forkful of potatoes while she glanced at her watch; it was 5:20, in ten minutes she was supposed to be in Snape's office for tutoring. Another jump of nerves raced over her and she was filled with both mixed feelings about wanting to race down and see him and also wanting to flee to the tower and avoid what he might have to say about last Friday evening. With a sigh she set her fork down, took a swig of pumpkin juice to wet her dry throat before gathering her pack and slinging it over her shoulder as she stood.

"I'll see you later Anna, I've got to get to tutoring." She said with a wave of her hand.

"Bye Ginny, don't let him stew you alive or something." Anna replied with a sympathetic look. Ginny rolled her eyes at the notion of any teacher let alone just Snape stewing a student alive. Then she giggled, how would they have explained it to the headmaster? _'O I'm sorry headmaster, but I just thought that naturally this was how you made student stew, I never would have imagined that the 'student' meant that it was for the students…"_

Still continueing to imagine other ways that teachers could get away with stewing or boiling students as she descended on her trek to the depths beneath the castle, It was much to both Ginny's delight and disappointment that the walk to Snape's office seemed to fly by and after what appeared to be only a moments pause she found herself outside his door.

Freezing as she raised her fist to knock on the door she both wanted to get inside as fast as possible and also realized that she still had the time to flee back to her common room and avoid him for the rest of the evening. Finally deciding that she was being silly and immature she smartly knocked on the door and waited for him to answer. But instead his voice drifted through the wooden door.

"Enter." He said with boredom. Slightly surprised Ginny reached for the door knob and let herself into his office. Snape sat at his desk this time as he hadn't the last two occasions, and appeared to be reading a thick black leather bound book. "You know the routine Miss. Weasley, try to finish your rough copy about the ingredients tonight; you'll begin brewing next week." He instructed his black eyes not even faltering form their darting back and forth across the page as he read. She noticed that although he appeared to be back to his old cranky self, his eyes were still bloodshot and still shadowed by dark circles.

"Yes sir." She replied before taking her seat at the opposite side of the desk and turning to the pile of books that were surprisingly already there. Wondering why he would already have the books out for her but deciding that she did not want to ask, she quickly grabbed the one she had been using last and flipped it to the marked page. Taking out her rough copy and a quill she began to scratch down notes about the ingredients as Snape continued to silently read across from her.

'_This is it?' _she thought. _'No punishment? No snarls, no sneers?'_

'_**I told you he doesn't know.'**_

'_Maybe he's just ignoring it?'_

'_**Why can't you just believe me?'**_

'_Because I need to know if he knows and you just telling me he doesn't know is **not** good enough!' _She snapped at her other self before blocking them, or her, or whatever you would call it out of her head and focusing entirely on her work.

At nearly 6:45, halfway through the session Snape laid the book he was reading down on his desk and stood, leaving the page open while he retreated to the back rooms without a word to her. Knowing that he must have gone to fetch something and that he'd be back soon Ginny felt a sudden curiosity begin to eat at her and a desire to know what he was reading overtook her. Taking a quick glance at the book across the desk and leaning forward to see it better, yet not daring to actually move it, she slowly deciphered the upside down writing to discover it read 'Brewing a More Powerful Dreamless Sleep Potion.' Silently contemplating why Snape would need a dreamless sleep potion she jumped when she heard his footsteps returning and quickly went back to scratching down notes.

Her cheeks red Ginny forced her self to take a quick glance at Snape to see if he had noticed her looking, but Snape was reading a second book which was what he had apparently gone to retrieve and hadn't paid any attention to her at all. In fact he sat back down at his desk without so much as a glance at her and began to copy notes from the thick black leather bound book into the old beat up book that he had brought out of the back rooms. Ginny watched him for a moment in a trance like state before slowly drawing her eyes away from him and returning to her work. She spent the remainder of the session working away, and much to her surprise, she finished her rough copy a half hour before tutoring was scheduled to be over. Snape was still working away at his own notes, and took no notice that she had packed up.

'_Talk about self absorbed'_

"Sir?" She asked cautiously while she watched him glance up, when he noticed that she had her things gathered he dropped his quill.

"Yes Miss. Weasley." He answered his voice unreadable. Ginny was unsure whether he was annoyed or just bored. When she didn't answer he raised his eyebrow and began tapping his finger on the desk. Definitely _annoyed._

"Sir, I finished my rough copy." She stated. Snape's eyebrows dropped in disbelief and he glanced at his watch. After he had read the time they raised again as if he didn't understand how so much time could have passed before he looked back up at her.

"Very well Miss. Weasley, you may leave then, I will read over your rough copy while you are brewing on Monday." He said dismissively before turning back to his books and picking up his quill to scribble down some more notes. Ginny stood there watching him, pondering what to do. Finally she took a deep breath and braced herself, it was now or never.

"Sir, about Friday night, well tutoring I mean-" She paused a moment and he glanced up at her with a scowl on his face.

"Miss. Weasley tutoring will take place next Friday as it is scheduled, I do not care what you may have planned, your school work is more important." He barked. Ginny blushed for the second time that night.

"No sir, not next Friday, you see, well, I was wondering, what I mean to say is, last Friday I, well, oh forget it! What I really mean to say is do you remember when I was here last Friday?" She asked outright.

**

* * *

**

"…What I really mean to say is do you remember when I was here last Friday?" The young witch asked him outright, her face the same shade as her hair. Snape's eyes widened and he felt his eyebrows rise so high that they were in danger of disappearing into his hair.

_She had been here? When he had been… indisposed? Impossible, no one had been here that night, he would have remembered, he wasn't that drunk to not have remembered. Especially if a little snot nosed Gryffindor witch had been in his office to laugh at him while he was intoxicated. It had not happened!_

But even while Snape thought this and tried to tell himself that it hadn't happened a memory flooded back to him of a witch he had thought to have been Lily helping him back to his chair. And now that he took the time to think about it, he realized that the witch in his supposed _dream _had been not only shorter, but younger than the Lily he usually chose to remember.

_That little shit! How dare she!_

"I think it would be best if you left now Miss. Weasley. You don't want to be caught out after curfew." He snarled, regaining his normal composure and slipping his normal unreadable, expressionless mask back onto his face, knowing that it was too late to fool her. But even as he watched, expecting her to come up with some sort of snide remark he only saw her blush a little deeper if possible.

"You do remember don't you?" She asked with embarrassment before plowing onward. "I know it wasn't my place sir, but once I saw you I couldn't just leave you like that you could have-"

"LEAVE MISS. WEASLEY!" Snape bellowed as he stood, too agitated to return to his work. He watched as the witch jumped before leaving his office, glancing back and blushing again before closing the door.

Scowling the man stepped out from behind his desk and began to pace around the room, constantly trying to avoid remembering the events of that night that he could remember, the way she had supported him, set him back in his chair and held his hand. His scowl deepened as he turned a corner and continued to pace.

_How could he have left his door unlocked? Why hadn't he locked it like he always did when he entered his office at any other time? Had he been so drunk that he had not remembered to even lock the door? Well of course he had, he'd been too drunk to even recognize that a student had entered his office, let alone to even recognize the student, NO! He wouldn't think about that, wouldn't think about what could have happened while he was drunk, the things that he could have told her! He definitely wouldn't think about how she had just tried to apologize. He did not like the fact that she had tried to explain herself rather than laugh in his face. He could deal with criticism; he knew how to be cold. He could not deal and refused to accept pity or sympathy. He had only accepted one act of pity in his entire life and that had been when Albus had given him this job, he was not about to accept another! No way would he let that witch go around thinking that she could get the better of him! He was not about to give in and give her the chance to explain her actions!_

But even as Snape paced his room, seething at what he had just found out and mentally refusing to have any further discussion about the events that had taken place; he knew that he had to find out what had happened that night. He knew he had to find out what he had done and exactly how much he had told her. And to do that, however much he hated to admit it, and however much he didn't want to have to go through with it, he knew that he had to let her explain.

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A/N: Here's the next chapter! Snape finally knows and he's not too happy about it either.

**Reddragon67:** 3am? Really? REALLY REALLY? Wow!

Now about that weird fact I said last time, the reason that male elephants have nipple sin their armpits is because female elephants do, and all fetuses start as female, so therefore when the fetus decides to become male, it just does not lose the nipples. Isn't that weird? Did you know that it doesn't work with horses, but it does with cattle?

Oh, did I trick anyone with my deceptive title? No the truth about the relationship did not come out! Did I fool anyone?


	13. Violently Yellow FLowers

**Cry Wolf**

**XIV: Violently Yellow Flowers.**

The weekend which was a blissful time of relaxation for students, was a complete state of hell for Snape. Although he tried to busy himself by brewing the potions that he needed (especially dreamless sleep potions) and correcting the essays of incompetent students, the second he would take a break his mind would fill up with the hellish wonderings about just how he had acted in front of Miss. Weasley. He also found himself wondering just when it was that he had begun to refer to her as Miss. Weasley in his thoughts and not just Weasley, brat, snob or twit as he used to do.

Scowling he placed aside the essay that he was marking and picked up another. He could not let that young witch distract him from his job, these essays had to be marked for tomorrow, so settling back into teaching mode he scanned over the seventh year work of one of his own Slytherins and crossed out things that didn't make sense as well as managing to write a nasty comment at the end. Realizing that he had finished marking yet another one he growled when more thoughts of that evening that he couldn't remember filled his mind. Much to his shock he realized that the thoughts were not distracting him from marking the essays but he was using the essays to distract himself from these thoughts.

Dragging a hand through his greasy hair he growled with impatience. Why was it that he could not get that insufferable girl out of his mind? Why was it tat he could not help but wonder if he had acted inappropriately in front of her in his drunken state? He tried to tell himself that it was because he didn't want her blabbing her big mouth to the entire school, and although he forced himself into thinking that this was the answer, part of him still didn't believe it. But he had been ignoring that part of himself for almost twenty years. He was not going to listen to it now.

Tossing the marked essay aside he picked up another one and prepared to mark it, but his hand froze above the parchment as he lowered his quill to its surface. What if she wouldn't tell him what had happened? He sneered at this thought, if she would not tell him what had happened then he would give her the option of handing him the memory or of using legilimency to take it himself. He would not be kept in the dark by a sixteen year old.

**

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**

It was Monday, and although Ginny no longer wondered whether or not Snape remembered the 'incident', now she was even more worried about how he would treat her in class. Would he constantly belittle her? Or maybe he'd just get it over with and hex her into oblivion. She was pretty positive that he was not very happy knowing that she had witnessed him in such a state, twice, the second time of which she had a suspicion that he could not remember much of. Once again she found herself with mixed emotions about attending the potions class that was scheduled for first period. Should she go? She definitely wanted to, if only to see him, but if he was going to be a tangle of pure fury then she didn't want to be at the receiving end of his wrath.

"Ginny, what are you staring at?" Anna-Rose asked suddenly from across the Gryffindor house table. She fixed Ginny with a sly look and then began searching the crowd in the direction that Ginny had been staring.

"Nothing Anna, I was just thinking." Ginny said exasperatedly as she dropped her fork, no longer interested in the breakfast placed in front of her. Anna however continued to search the crowd.

"Sure Gin, whatever you say, I know you were watching your little 'lover boy' again. So tell me, is it Sinius?" She asked as she spotted a rather handsome Hufflepuff boy who had been sitting where Ginny had been absentmindedly staring.

"No Anna, it's not Sinius, he is a complete ass hole." Ginny said while rolling her eyes. Anna surveyed her friend looking for any sign of a blush but when she didn't spot any she sighed with defeat.

"Damn, thought I had it." She said with resignation. Ginny laughed.

"I told you Anna, you will _never_ figure it out, now get ready we don't want to be late for potions." She said as she gathered her things and swung her bag over her shoulder. Anna groaned behind her.

"I wish we had quiddich again, at least then we wouldn't have to go." She complained. Ginny rolled her eyes.

"Anna you're going to have to go to potions again sooner or later, now hurry up, I don't want to get a detention."

"Yes queen Sheba, you're royal highness." Anna said her voice laced with sarcasm before she gathered her own possession sand joined her friend on her trek out of the great hall.

The two chatted happily as the made their way towards the dungeons, Anna complaining about her least favorite class and most hated professor, and although Ginny agreed that it was her least favorite class she did not share her thoughts about the professor, but luckily Anna didn't notice this because she was too busy making wild guesses as to who she thought that Ginny liked. Much to Ginny's dismay not only were some of the guesses completely unbelievable, but Anna always seemed to guess when loads of other people were around so that she could catch Ginny blushing and know for sure. When Anna began to run out of ideas and starting guessing Slytherins Ginny just had to try her best to ignore her friend and hope that she would stop soon.

"What about Barry Binnetly?" Anna asked as they approached the closed potions classroom door, where a group of Slytherins waited outside, one of them being Barry, who had returned from visiting his sick Grandmother.

"Anna-Rose! Don't you _dare_ suggest such a thing ever again!" Ginny proclaimed with shock. Anna laughed openly and the Slytherins who were waiting gazed at her with a perplexed look before breaking into grins. Why they broke into grins became apparent a moment later.

"Ten points from Gryffindor for unnecessary loudness in the hallways." An icy voice drawled from behind them. Ginny jumped with fright and spun around to see an aggravated Snape glaring at both of them. "Move out of the way so that I can enter my class room." He instructed, smoothing the front of his robes and then crossing his arms over his chest. Ginny and Anna jumped out of the way while Snape swept by them and opened the classroom door. The Slytherins flashed them both another amused look before filing inside. Anna huffed with indignation and trailed off but Ginny did not notice them as she entered the room because her mind was buzzing with the speed of a racing broom.

How long had he been behind them? Had he been following behind them since they left the entrance hall? Oh god what if he had heard them talking? What if he had heard Anna's wild guesses? She did not want Snape to think that she liked anyone!

"**_Well, maybe except one person."_** Her other side commented. Ginny thought this over, sure she would like it if he did know, but only if something could come out of it, which it never would, and she knew that he would not be happy to know what she knew that she wanted him to know. So inevitably what she knew would have to be something that he could not know no matter how much she knew that she wanted him to know, she also knew that it would be better for both of them if he did not know.

"_This is so confusing."_ She thought as she took her seat at the back of the room, took out her things and laid them out on the desk.

"Now that we are in class and not screaming in the hallways…" Snape sneered while flashing her a dark look which she didn't know if it was supposed to say 'I-hate-you', or 'you-annoy-me-beyond-reason', she hoped for the latter as it meant that at least he didn't hate her. "You may all begin your potions for the day." Snape continued, breaking her out of her thoughts, and drawing her attention back to him. "You're instructions, are on the board." He said before flicking his wand and causing the instructions and a list of ingredients to magically appear onto the board. "Take out your things and begin." He finished before falling into the old routine of stalking around the classroom in his usual manner waiting to jump down the throats of students who dared to make a mistake, which in fact he had not done for quite some time. Ginny knew that that quite some time led back to exactly when he had discovered that he had been related to Lily, and although she still didn't know why he was so miserably ticked off about this, at least she knew that he blamed himself for some reason. Step two was to figure out why.

"Get to work Miss. Weasley." Snape sneered as he stalked passed her, Ginny was surprised that he did not stop to make a scene out of the situation, but he hadn't even glanced at her while he had passed, and now he was biting the head off of another Gryffindor who had added their marrow root too soon.

Ginny rolled her eyes and began to chop her own marrow root a sudden unexplainable urge to attract his attention washing over her. If Snape was going to use the old 'you-are-a-problem,-therefore-if-I-ignore-you,-you-will-go-away' routine, then fine. She could do worse. There were other ways to make him acknowledge her presence; she would just have to…

**BANG!**

Ginny's cauldron exploded as she purposefully added the wrong ingredient, sending droplets of green ooze flying in every direction across the room and when they landed they caused violently yellow flowers to spring up from where the droplets had made contact. She noticed with glee that Barry Binnetly had three flowers growing out of his hair.

"Weasley!" Snape bellowed from across the room as a flower sprouted out of the table next to where his hand had been resting only moments before. Ginny was more amazed by the fact that the droplet had managed to fly that far than she was concerned about his livid state. "Once again I am amazed that you could match the stupidity of Neville Longbottom." He sneered, his voice returning to its normal tone that he used when threatening students. She noticed that he flashed her a deadly look that clearly said 'I-know-you-did-that-on-purpose-and-you-will-pay'. "Fifty points from Gryffindor and you will stay after class." He sneered before stalking around the room and tapping his wand onto flowers that were not attached to students, these flowers instantly burst into blue flame and shriveled away. Those students that did have flowers on them, (Barry and another Slytherin, Ginny was shocked that none had grown off of her but only her robes.) Snape quickly sent to Madame Pomfrey, and informed them that they would make up for this class on Sunday afternoon.

The rest of the class Ginny was forced to sit in boredom because she had exploded her potion, received a terrible grade on it and as consequence, was now beginning to panic. What had gotten into her? Why had she felt such a sudden need to catch his attention that she had risked her mark for it?

"**_It was the hormones. You're as horny as a rabbit."_**

"_Shut up, it was not hormones and I am certainly not-"_

"Class is over, pack up your things." Snape said as the bell rang, "Miss, Weasley, come up here." He instructed with a sour look on his face. Ginny gulped and stood, noticing that there were still flowers on her robes which she quickly burnt off before progressing to the front of the room. Standing in front of the professor's desk she received a very nasty look before he sat down in his chair.

"Miss. Weasley, there is a matter that I must discuss with you." He sneered, his lip curling as if he hated the very thought of what he was about to say. Ginny waited while his black eyes bored into hers with accusation, she knew that a detention was more than likely on its way.

"As much as I hate to have to do this,"

'_Here it comes…' _

"I am going to give you the choice,"

'_I am in so much trouble'_

"To tell me what occurred Friday night." Snape finished, his voice sounded so icy that Ginny was astounded that icicles weren't shooting out of his mouth, but she could only stare at him in shock. This is what he kept her back for? No punishment? No screaming, no points deducted and no anger?

"But sir, I thought that you kept me back to punish me for the potion." She said confused, why did he care what had happened? And how could he expect her to tell him? There was no way she could tell him, she would die of embarrassment if she had to tell the dark potions professor that she had held his hand, and pinned his hair behind his ear…

"Do not tempt me Miss. Weasley, now explain yourself." Snape sneered; looking extremely agitated, as well as extremely uncomfortable. She noticed that he had begun to tap his finger onto the surface of his desk, something that seemed to be a habit of his. Ginny watched him for a minute while she thought about how to tell him, but then something he had just said caught her attention.

"But sir, you said you were giving me the choice to tell you what happened, what if I don't?" She asked, very aware of what type of reaction this could bring out in the professor. He was not patient, especially when he was already angry. But luckily for her he kept his composure, even if his eyes did seem to flash with malice.

"If you choose not to tell me Miss. Weasley, then you have the _choice_ of handing me the memory by placing it in this vial, or, I will use legilimens to retrieve it myself. You do not have the choice of refusing to inform me of my own behavior." He smirked triumphantly at her shocked expression. "Now what will it be, I do not have all day!" He snapped. Ginny just stood there dumbfounded, he wanted her to tell him what had occurred, hand him the memory, or stand there while he intruded on her mind? What was she supposed to choose, all three involved him finding out, and two of those three involved him finding out while she was present! Well there was only one option then, she would have to hand him the memory and hope that he did not view it while she was present.

Aware that he was watching her like a hawk while she picked the small glass vial up off of his desk, she tried her best to ignore him as she raised her wand to her temple, something she had only done once before, and extracted the memory. Then she placed it into the vial and corked it shut before placing it on his desk. Snape glanced at her before snatching the vial away and depositing it into the pockets of his billowing robes.

"You're going to be late for your next class." He said curtly and without looking at her before he exited through the back door of the classroom to what must be his private rooms. Ginny watched him go with a sense of foreboding in her stomach that weighed her down as if she had eaten a pound of lead. What had she just done? What was he going to say to her after he had watched it?

'**_You wanted him to know…'_** Her other voice picked at her, chastising her for wanting to go back on the wish now that it had come true. **_'Didn't you ever learn to be careful what you wished for?'_**

'_Well obviously I did if you're lecturing me about it.' _She snapped at herself before storming out of the room in a very foul mood. How could she be expected to attend tutoring tomorrow?

**

* * *

**

A/N: Tee, hee, hee, I like this chapter a lot, it's so deliciously evil! Anyways, thanks for the reviews, and yea, can't think of anything else to say. Oh wait yes I can, don't expect a new chapter on either the 12, 18 or 19 because I have ox pulls that I'm competing in. So Ya, won' t be any new chapters on those dates. Thanks again.

-Darth Depravious.


	14. Fizz

**Cry Wolf**

**XV: Fizz**

Snape smirked with triumph as he entered his private rooms, the small phial of memory in his pocket with his hand securely clamped around it, as if he didn't continue to clutch it, it would disappear.

Twisting the knob of the door to his study, Snape pushed it open and then stepped inside before snapping the door shut behind him. Turning to the left he deposited the phial from his pocket onto the shelf adjacent to the door. Making sure that it would not topple off and smash onto the floor, he placed it into a small cauldron to be absolutely sure. When satisfied that it would not be lost he strode towards his desk, intent on writing a letter to Dumbledore to request permission for the use of his pensieve, chiding himself that he had not bothered to buy his own yet, when something large and covered in jet black feathers jumped to catch his attention.

'Croak.' The raven squawked angrily before it landed with a clatter of talons and pecked a package that was on his desk beside the temper mental bird.

"Teneberr, why aren't you in the owlery?" Snape asked the bird with a sneer. The raven ruffled its feathers at the mention of the word 'owlery' as if with annoyance. It made a perfect imitation of hooting owls and then squawked 'dunderheads' with a snap of it's beak.

Snape smirked; he knew that the owls did not appreciate the raven's presence in their roost. Often times when he had ascended those stairs with a letter for the bird he had noticed that if Teneberr strayed too close the owls would snap and screech at him. Luckily Snape had purchased the raven and not the crow which the saleswoman a the pet shop had been pressing onto him, the raven could hold it's own with it's greater size, but the owls would have made a quick meal out of a crow.

Teneberr suddenly croaked again to draw Snape's attention back, and hten once again pecked the parcel.

"All right, don't destroy whatever bundle of junk you've brought me." He snapped at the bird who snapped his beak right back, making a sharp clicking sound. Striding to his desk Snape sat behind it, keeping his hands away from Teneberr because the bird liked to bite, if it could be called biting, and dug out some parchment. He scribbled a quick note and held it out to his 'minion' Teneberr, he refused to call the bird his pet because he did nothing to cuddle or comfort the thing. Nor would he ever. Perhaps that was why the creature was so ill tempered, but it didn't matter, minion sounded more dangerous anyway, and he had always had a fascination with danger, even if he was becoming more tired of it than thrilled lately.

"Take this to the headmaster, and be sure to bring me a reply." He said with a smirk as he imagined the bird harassing Dumbledore into writing a response. Teneberr snatched the note from Snape's hand and ruffled his feathers accusingly before staring at the parcel.

"I will open the package now go!" he snapped, his patience thinning. The bird growled a this, another uncanny impersonation which it had picked up from somewhere before it took off and disappeared through the magical portal which allowed the post to be delivered to the dungeons, something that Snape wished that he knew how to reverse. But then again it was probably better that Teneberr didn't frustrate him at the staff table during breakfast, where he would lose his temper more quickly.

Scowling and wondering where the bird had learnt such rude behavior, but not realizing that is was almost a carbon copy of himself minus the biting, Snape turned to his parcel and ripped off the attached note. It read;

_Severus Snape, potions master of Hogwarts School,_

_Here are the ingredients that you ordered, as requested._

_Please order with an owl next time, one of my employees_

_Quit because of that bird waiting around here to collect_

_the order._

_-Hugrump Vladmirk_

_Potent Potion Ingredients Incorporated._

Snape scowled again at the request for the use of another post bird, he did not trust the owls at the school, especially since they seemed so willing to give up their letters to interceptors, be they either ministry or something more sinister. He was just thinking of perhaps sending Teneberr back for more ingredients, just to show Hugrump Vladmirk what he would get for telling Severus Snape what to do when he remembered that the ingredients he had ordered needed to be placed under containment spells so that the would not spoil.

Quickly getting up he retreated into a closet off of the room which housed jars that placed their occupants into containment spells. He selected three and brought them back into the office area.

Setting them on the desk he removed the lids, placing them next to their glass counterparts, he then turned to the parcel and ripped the packaging away.

Three small bundles were contained inside the larger package, opening the first which was a bundle of flying pig feathers, Snape checked them over to make sure that everything was in order before dropping them into the jar. When he attached the lid the jar automatically filled with sickly yellow preservative ooze which was part of the containment spell. The next bundle which was a matt of werewolf fur filled its jar with electric blue ooze.

Snape smirked, thinking that he should have gotten the hair from Lupin instead of wasting his money on it, but of course the hair had to be from a feral werewolf. And with Lupin constantly ingesting the wolfs bane potion he was far from feral.

Placing the last ingredient into it's jar, the three dragon eyes produced a deep blood clot red ooze. Then, making sure that the lids on the jars were securely fastened he flicked his wand and sent them zooming across the room to their own place amongst the other alphabetized ingredients.

Satisfied that they were correctly stashed away, Snape took his place behind his desk and was about to set to work marking some first year tests when there was a clatter of talons and a loud 'croak' that announced Teneberr's return.

"Merlin's sake bird!" Snape snapped as he jumped with surprise, but not fright, he did not get frightened. Teneberr growled and muttered 'pathetic' before dropping a crisp new piece of parchment and disappearing again. Snape hastily snatched Dumbledore's reply off of the desk with irritation and quickly read the short note. It said;

_Severus,_

_Of course you may use my pensieve,_

_I have told you many times before_

_To just take it when you need_

_It, I really wish you would stop asking._

_This bird of yours is quite charming,_

_And although I now have several _

_Red spots on my fingers he still_

_Amuses me._

_Please say Fizz._

_-Albus._

Snape stared at the note, slightly confused, which was something that Dumbledore often did to him.

"Why the hell should I say Fizz?" He muttered, tossing the parchment onto the desk, but the second that the word_ Fizz_ was muttered there was a puff of smoke which vanquished the parchment and left in it's place, sitting calmly on the desk, was the pensieve.

Smirking with both amusement at Dumbledore's brilliance and annoyance at the way the man always seemed to show him up, Snape wasted no time. He quickly summoned the phial of memory from the shelf, stirred it into the other contents of the pensieve, and after prodding the substance with the end of his wand, he paused only briefly to wonder what he was about to see, and why he felt hesitant. Surely I couldn't be guilt?

Shaking his head to dispel the though and cursing himself for even thinking that he would feel guilty for this when there were so many other things that he had done which deserved guilt but received none, Snape set his wand on the desk and plunged face first into Ginny's memory.

"I will not let Ginny Weasley keep me from knowing what I did." He hissed at himself through clenched teeth as the area around him swirled and changed as he fell deeper and deeper into the pensieve. Then something another thought struck him, why on earth had he called her _Ginny?_

A/N: This chapter is just a short, and sort of in-between kind of thing. I apologize for not updating for so long but I have been extremely busy with ox pulling, I pulled at 3:oo pm yesterday! But don't worry because there are no more pulls until labor day weekend and the weekend after so I'll be trying to get back to this, but I am also building a piece onto the barn so there are no guarantees.

Here's something I'll mention just for fun. I made up the name Teneberr by combining the words **tenebrous **(dark and gloomy) and **erratic **(Deviating from the customary course in conduct or opinion; eccentric: erratic behaviour.) two words that I thought described the bird very well. And by the way, Fizz from Dumbledore's note is, of course, a kind of Candy.

Anyways, I realize that this chapter is mostly all Snape's p.o.v, which I like, not sure about you though, but there will be more excitement in the next chapter, if you can call explanations and arguing excitement.

Oh and, **Masterdeeds**, Ginny is too smart to think that she could get away with only giving Snape parts of the memory. She was just happy to be out of the room when he finally finds out what happened. (:p)

-Darth Depravious.


	15. Improbable, Not Impossible

**Cry Wolf**

**XVI: 'Improbable, Not Impossible.'**

Tuesday was a day of dread for Ginny. Her classes flew by because once again she was trying to figure out some way to avoid being confronted by Snape, but of course there was no way that she could avoid the confrontation. Unless of course she were to end up in the infirmary, but she didn't feel like inflicting some sort of wound onto herself. She had enough emotional stress to deal with, she didn't need to add physical trauma on top of it all.

"You all right Gin? You've seemed like you were about to face hell all day." Anna-Rose commented as they exited the charms classroom, their last period of the day during which Flitwick had generously piled the homework onto them. Ginny didn't know where she was going to get the time to do the essay. With the added quiddich practices and lessons with Snape, her once boringly empty schedule was now nearly crammed full! Thank goodness that this weekend was Halloween and they would get some time off for the feast.

"It's Tuesday." Ginny replied to her friend. As if it were obvious that Tuesday was the literal, physical form of hell. "There is no reason to be happy on Tuesdays." She stated, still slightly scared of what would happen that night because she had no idea how Snape was going to react.

'_if only things could go back to when we would joke around… well sort of anyway.' _She thought as her and Anna-Rose began climbing the staircase towards the common room. Anna was once again rambling on about Snape's unfairness but Ginny wasn't taking a word of it in.

'_He is sooooo going to hate me forever!'_

'**_He didn't hate you before?'_** Her consciency type thing asked sarcastically.

'_Well yeas and no, but now he'll never be civil with me again. So much for him getting the point.' _She whined.

'**_These things take time. He will blow off his steam, then we may be able to seduce him.' _**She told herself with the equivalent of a mental wink.

Ginny scoffed and chocked with laughter at the thought of anyone being able to seduce the cold potions master.

She hardly noticed that Anna-Rose was laughing along with her, She just hoped that whatever Anna thought that she was laughing along with wouldn't come back to bite her in the ass later on.

A struggle of gargantuan proportions raged against the insides of Ginny's skull as she tried to will her hand to turn the door knob. But the command wanted to rush to her feet and cause her to run, all the way back to the tower and hide so that she could avoid the ticking time bomb that must be Professor Snape.

"You are such a coward." She finally growled at herself and sprung into action, making the last minute decision to knock rather that barge in unannounced.

Rapping her knuckles smartly onto the oaken door she listened to the hollow echoes reverberate inside the chamber. She waited, clutching her notes to her chest as she hear a chair scraping back and after a moment footsteps making their way to where she stood waiting. In a flash the knob on the door twirled and the door itself was yanked open in a hurried fashion to reveal the tall, darkly clad and menacing potions professor. But whether Snape was in a rush or not, the moment he spotted the young Gryffindor he froze.

The two stared at each other pointlessly for a moment, Ginny braced for the explosion of Snape fury, while Snape seemed to be out of his senses; as if he had only just remembered something important that had been forgotten.

But as usual with all of Snape's slips from his usual dark, 'doom and gloom' composure, the moment was short lived and almost before Ginny could tell herself that it had indeed happened, Snape had plastered his usual scowl back onto his face, smoothed his robes, and crossed his arms over his thin chest.

"Ah yes Miss. Weasley." He sneered, catching sight of the notes clasped against her chest. "Tutoring I assume?" his eyebrow arched mockingly at the question.

Ginny simply continued to stare with confusion, where was the rage that she had expected? Snape was behaving as if he didn't even know what he had done, but she knew that it was not possible for him to have not viewed the memory.

Not realizing that she was only staring, it was not until Snape cleared his throat with agitation that Ginny found her voice.

"You should know you scheduled it." She snarled with irritation that Snape would once again try to pull his 'if-I-ignore-the-problem-it-will-go-away' routine.

Snape's sneer, which was normally just directed towards the usual immaturity of the castle and its many students deepened to one of disgust towards Ginny's behavior.

"Ten points from Gryffindor." He snarled before retreating back into the room, leaving the door open to show that she was supposed to follow. Ginny grumbled to herself before entering and closing the door sharply behind her.

Still confused and not sure what to expect, Ginny turned and searched the area in front of Snape's desk for any sign of a cauldron or ingredients, but it was empty. The only thing on the desks shiny surface was Snape's own work and his arm which was tapping a finger with irritation as he watched her just stand there. _Hadn't he said that she would be brewing today?_

"What are we going to be working with?" She asked while eyeing the empty space and staying rooted to where she was standing. Snape flashed her a glare of impatience, he did not answer her question.

"Sit Miss. Weasley." He commanded while Ginny continued to stand there, with a thread of defiance that she had not had before. She again glanced at her usual chair but did not move to sit.

"But sir, you said that we would be brewing potions this week, and I don't see a cauldron so…"

"Ginevra Weasley I said sit!" Snape snapped, clapping his hand down onto the desk top as his temper flared.

Ginny, although annoyed that Snape would use her full first name, something that only her mother or Fred and George used to do, but deciding that she did not want to unlock Snape's currently contained anger Ginny marched across the room and flung herself into the chair.

"What now, _professor_?" She asked sarcastically, glaring at him across the desk, where she had thrown down her notes.

"Do not give me cheek Miss Weasley." Snape snapped again as he shuffled some papers aside. Ginny sighed and took a deep breath to try to fight her frustration.

"Sorry professor, what I meant to ask was what am I working on this evening?" She asked with faux sweetness, as well as through gritted teeth.

"You will be working on nothing." He said curtly as he moved some more things off of his desk without looking at her. Ginny glared, her faux sweetness forgotten.

"Why, did you forget about the brewing and not bring ingredients?" She asked with a hint of bite in her voice.

"Five more points from Gryffindor, I warned you about your cheek." He sneered as he stored the last bundle of papers into a drawer before glancing up and staring at her. "Miss Weasley I can assure you that I have never scheduled a brewing session without obtaining the required ingredients, nor have I ever forgotten about a brewing. Even if I had, I am a professor and I do not have to explain myself to a insufferable Gryffindor as yourself." He snarled, glowering with malice.

Ginny watched him, trying to be angry that he was being so, so difficult! But the more she tried the more she thought about how his harsh tongue suited him, and somehow, because of its good fit to his persona, never offended her. Of course it was that and the fact that he was dead sexy when he tried to intimidate her.

'_**Every girl likes the bad boy sooner or later.'**_

'_He's hardly a **boy**.'_

'**_Even better, I'm getting tired of waiting around for a real man.' _**Her second part of herself mused. A smile threatened to cross Ginny's face but she managed to transform it into a scowl and quickly think up a snide remark.

"Well then _professor_, if I am not brewing, then what do you suggest a Gryffindor such as myself should do?" She drawled sarcastically. At this Snape's glower quickly changed to a confidant smirk of triumph.

"A Gryffindor such as you, Miss. Weasley," He drawled, drawing his hand out of the drawer, quickly closing the drawer and with a snap laid whatever was in his fist onto the desktop with a sharp snap. His eyes glinted with malice as his smirk widened. "You will explain yourself." He drew his hand away to reveal the small glass phial filled with swirling silver memory.

Ginny's stomach plummeted past her feet and through the floor to what she supposed was hell.

'**_He wasn't pulling the if-I-ignore-the-problem-it-will-go-away routine." _**Her half self chided.

'_No shit.'_

Snape watched Ginny smugly as she glanced to the phial of memory, her memory, and then let her jaw fall open in shock. His smirk broadened, he had her cornered now, and she may have been using the hair incident as a way to gain points in their raging _'battle' _of wits but she couldn't use it now. Now that he had the advantage.

"Well Miss. Weasley?" He questioned, only just remembering to call her by her surname instead of Ginny. He had found that ever since he had addressed her by her first name while pondering over the pensieve, even though it was to him self, that he could not stop doing so. Already since she had entered he had slipped once, but managed to pass it off as discipline, which she luckily didn't seem to have noticed.

"Professor I- well you were, you know, and I well- I couldn't just- leave you there like that." She sputtered in an embarrassed, very non Ginny way.

'_I must not call her by her first name.'_ He scolded himself, wondering why he couldn't settle for calling her Weasley like he had in the past. It was not as if he liked the girl, well he didn't hate her anyway, but he definitely did _not _like her. She was just a regular student; he would not break his track record by picking favorites now.

"Any other student would beg to differ, and even have gone out of their way to make me worse off that I already was." he pointed out, enjoying her discomfort far too much.

"I am not any other student." She said plainly.

"As I have noticed." He snapped sourly.

He glared at her for a moment, gritting his teeth with impatience as he tapped his finger with sharp mechanical movements. Ginny glared back at him but didn't speak, he noticed that her face was beginning a mild blush, she was embarrassed. He also noticed that he had once again called her Ginny.

"I am waiting Miss. Weasley." He drawled. The witch frowned and blushed a little deeper.

"I already told you, despite what you think, that I couldn't just leave you there like that, you could've-"

"Miss. Weasley," he interrupted her, "You and I both know that my drunken state is _not_ what I wish you to explain." Ginny turned even redder under his scrutinizing gaze, she definitely did not want to discuss this with him, and it was too bad that she didn't have a choice. He needed to know what had compelled her to perform such a gesture, he needed to know why.

"I don't know what you're talking about." She said quickly.

"Do not play dumb with me." He growled.

"Well what do you expect me to say?"

"I expect you to explain to me why you suddenly decided to play 'goodie two shoes.' Helping a professor is one thing, but a personal gesture like the one you pulled is the complete opposite of acceptable. I want to know what kind of game you are playing!" He snarled.

"Well what else would you do for someone you like?" She snarled right back at him.

Snape froze, whatever he had been expecting for an answer, it had not been this. Her, like him? Impossible, he was her teacher, he was a death eater, he was too old, he could be her father for Merlin's sake!

_Improbable, not impossible. _He corrected himself, why he didn't know, but as he sat there stunned, he realized that Ginny-NO!- that insufferable little brat of a Gryffindor Weasley snob, had not meant to say what she had. Her jaw had dropped open and her eyes had widened with revelation at what she had just blurted out, but quickly her hands flew up to cover her mouth and her face, if possible, flushed a red so deep, that her hair failed in comparison. She seemed to cringe into her chair, as if waiting for a massive explosion, but all Snape could do was stare.

This would not do. She could not like him, she was supposed to be the one who he could snarl, sneer and growl at, Ginny was who he was supposed to be able to belittle and vent his anger on. Ginny could not like him, it was unacceptable, he could not let it continue, and he could not continue to call her Ginny!

The witch across from him continued to wait, while Snape continued to fume, planning on telling her just what he thought and stamping out any remaining ember of 'crush' or 'infatuation' but when he opened his mouth to do so his voice caught in his throat and after a moment he gave up.

"Miss. Weasley, I think it would be best if you left." He said coldly after a long pause that dripped with discomfort.

Ginny literally jumped at the suggestion, and after snatching her notes off of the desk top raced towards the doorway.

"You will be brewing on Friday!" Snape barked, not knowing why he even bothered. He should cancel all tutoring sessions and avoid as much contact with her as possible, but Dumbledore wouldn't like that. He couldn't stop tutoring for no reason.

Ginny of course didn't answer him but raced through the doorway, shutting it quickly behind her.

Snape continued to sit at his desk, mulling things over in his mind. How was he going to stop this? He couldn't allow it to continue, it was completely inappropriate, he had to do something to squash whatever it was that –attracted- her to him. He needed a plan! It was wrong!

But even as he sat, trying to convince him self that it was wrong, knowing it was unacceptable, and willing himself to form a plan, part of himself wondered why his usually quick witted mind wasn't producing any ideas.

A/N: nothing to say.

-Darth Depravious.


	16. You Will Tell No One'

**Cry Wolf**

**XVI: 'You Will Tell No One.'**

Ginny sat in the great hall, staring at her lunch but not eating. She was too busy thinking about what she had idiotically blurted out at her last tutoring session with Snape.

Jabbing her steak moodily Ginny wondered how she could be expected to ever attend a potions lesson ever again, let alone next period, or tutoring that night! She could never, ever face him ever again, that was why she had spent the whole week avoiding the professor. Like on Wednesday when she had rounded the corner to the library only to spot Snape exiting and had to dive behind a suit of armor until he passed by. She also made a note to herself not to watch him unless there was no possible way that he could even remotely notice her, she just knew that he would find a way to throw it in her face later on.

"Is something wrong Gin?" Anna-Rose asked from across the table where she had looked up from her own food once she noticed that Ginny was not eating. Ginny stabbed her steak again.

"Fine," She growled not in a very good mood at all. "Fan-frikin-tastic." She now took a turn to stab her potatoes.

"Oh, I see, we're still in a _'the-world-sucks-and-I-hate-everyone/everything'_ mood. Okay fine, you ready to tell me why you're so pissed off all week?" She asked acidly. Anna had been a good sport for the past few days but seemed to be reaching the end of her patience.

Ginny sighed and put her fork down, her plate somehow knew that she was finished and disappeared.

"I'm sorry I snapped at you Anna, but no, I'm not ready or am I going to tell you what happened." Ginny said apologetically. Anna watched her skeptically for a moment before nodding.

"All right. But can I assume that this has something to do with your lover boy who you also can't tell me about?" She asked with a raised eyebrow. Ginny quickly looked away, hoping that Anna wouldn't notice the blush creeping into her cheeks.

"No, of course not." She said as if Anna-Rose were completely insane.

"Sure, _of course not,_ I see." Anna-Rose mused; Ginny could hear the smirk in her voice and sighed in defeat.

"Fine, I'll tell you what is going on but I'm still not telling you who." She relented, hoping that Anna-Rose would not over react. She immediately regretted her decision when Anna squealed with delight, attracting the attention of over half of the house table.

"Oh my god, this is great, thank you so much Gin!" She screamed, and then noticed that the entire Gryffindor table was now shooting her blatantly confused looks. "I mean, gee-er-whatever happened?" She asked with fake innocence, taking her own turn to blush. Ginny rolled her eyes.

"Not here," She growled, "Not that you have now gotten the attention of the whole house table anyway."

Anna-Rose shed a guilty look for an even guiltier one as Ginny swung her bag onto her shoulder and climbed over the house table rather than take the long route around. "C'mon." she hissed before grabbing her friend by the arm and dragging her out of the hall, feeling many Gryffindor eyes following her.

"Where are we going? Why isn't under those stairs a good enough place? Just tell me already!" Anna-Rose protested. Ginny ignored her friend and continued to drag her through the entrance hall and out the front doors. Once outside they dodged behind some trees and Ginny finally let go and sat down on a rock, Anna sat across from her on an old stump.

"Okay, so what's up?" She asked immediately.

"Honestly Anna, you have no tact at all." Ginny told her friend.

"Screw tact!" Anna exclaimed. "I want the juicy details! Out with it Missy!" She commanded. Ginny groaned, wondering if she'd made a mistake deciding to tell, but seeing no way to go back on it.

"I've done something really, _really, **really, **_stupid." She whined. Anna gave her a disbelieving look.

"What? Did you jump him in the hallway and drag him into you're 'broom cupboard' for promiscuous occasions with like a million witnesses or something?" She said then began to crack up with her characteristic snorting laughter. Ginny stared at her friend with both shock and immense humiliation. No way would Anna have just said that if she had any idea who they were talking about.

"Oh Merlin's sake no! Is that any way to talk to a virgin?" she asked with a mixture of humor/ shock/ offense. Anna-Rose snorted again and laughed louder.

"No way you didn't lose it to Harry." She giggled. Ginny was genuinely offended this time, Anna had no right to bring up Harry. She wasn't ready to analyze the end of her relationship with him yet, if it was even over. Was it? She didn't know, but she knew that she didn't want to talk about it yet.

"No, for your information, both Harry and I are still youthfully innocent." She scowled with aggravation. At this Anna seemed to realize her mistake and had the grace to allow her cheeks to flush with embarrassment.

"Sorry Gin, I shouldn't have mentioned Harry." She apologized quietly. Ginny felt her resolve soften.

"It's okay." She said softly. "I guess I am a bit touchy about it." Anna smirked at this but was wise enough not to comment.

"So…" Anna ventured after an awkward pause. "What did you do that was really, really, really stupid?" She asked. Ginny moaned as the memory of what she had blurted hit her full force.

"Oh my god Anna I can't believe I did it! How could I be so thoughtless?" She whined.

"I don't know, what did you do?" Anna persisted, never deterred once her mind was set on what she wanted.

"I told him! I mean how could I be stupid enough to tell him?" She questioned, her voice rising an octave.

"No way! You didn't tell him that you like him, no way you did that." Anna proclaimed in a very teenage girly shriek voice. Ginny covered her face by lowering it into her crossed arms.

"I wish I didn't!" She moaned, she could feel her extreme blush radiating heat from her face.

"Oh Ginny this is bad." Anna stated the obvious. Ginny pointlessly rolled her eyes because Anna couldn't see the gesture with her face covered up as it was. "Unless… how did he react, this, what did you say his name was again?" She asked, her voice sickly sugary sweet. Ginny raised her head and shot her friend a suspicious glance.

"Nice try." She said. Anna flashed a sheepish smile and shrugged when she realized that she'd been caught.

"Can't blame me." She said simply before jumping back to the matter at hand. "So how did he react?" She asked again. Ginny shrugged.

"He didn't really, he just told me that it would be better it I- went away." She said lamely. Anna watched her thoughtfully and the silence stretched between them until Ginny finally asked "What?"

"Well I was just thinking…"

"About?" Ginny pressed, ideas of her own non-existent love life should not be kept from her.

"I was thinking, did he seem mad when you told him? She asked. Ginny thought and remembered the look on Snape's face.

"No, just shocked, but he will hate me." She said with exasperation. "Why?"

"Well I thought, that if, like you said he was indeed just shocked, then perhaps once the idea settles on him, he'll come around." She said slyly. Ginny shook her head.

"Not gonna happen." She said defiantly.

"Okay, whatever." Anna gave in before glancing at her watch and jumping to her feet. "Merlin's sake, if we don't hurry we're going to be late for potions!" She screeched as she whipped her bag onto her shoulder and harassed Ginny into getting her act together, then quickly whisked her off towards the dungeons.

"Hey Gin?" She asked as they raced down a stone stairwell.

"Yea?" Ginny panted.

"Why did you tell him anyway?" She asked. Ginny made a sound of disgust at her own stupidity.

"I didn't tell him on purpose, it just sort of , slipped out." She confided, her voice angry.

"Okay." Anna answered as they tore down a corridor that led to the potions wing.

"Anna?" Ginny called as they slowed to a walk so that when they entered the potions wing they could not get into trouble for running in the halls.

"Yes?" Anna asked in a purposefully annoying sing-song voice that could rival peeves'.

"Thanks for, you know, listening." She mumbled. Anna smiled.

"No problem my friend, that is what Anna-Rose Mariah Frizzen does best." She joked. Ginny giggled before entering the classroom with her head down and rushing off to hide in her usual spot at the back of the room. Much to her relief Snape didn't even look up from his papers but simply snapped,

"You're instructions are on the board." And then left them to their work.

All potions lesson Snape had ignored the entire class; he only broke his concentration a few times to snap at Barry Binnetly who was flinging ingredients at other students.

But despites the fact that he tried to make himself appear busy by continually scribbling away at the parchment on his desk, Ginny couldn't help but feel that he was only truly ignoring her and in order not to appear suspicious, was ignoring the entire class. Which was fine by her because she was doing her best to ignore him. She did this by actually trying to correctly brew her potion without any mistakes.

'**_But why would he ignore me?' _**Part of herself nagged in the back of her mind as she thought over the day's lesson while preparing for tutoring.

'_How else would he keep from exploding with rage?' _She told herself as if it was the simplest explanation and therefore the only possible one.

'_**I don't think so.'**_

'_And why not?'_

'**_There are other reasons to ignore people.' _**Ginny rolled her eyes.

'_Such as?' _She asked, hardly believing that there would be any other reason for Snape to ignore her other than to keep him self from bursting.

'**_Well you were ignoring him for a different reason weren't you?'_** She told herself smugly. Ginny shook her head and, not paying attention to where she was going nearly ran smack into a statue of a one eyed witch. That was when she realized that she had been so immersed in her own thoughts that she hadn't noticed that her feet had been carrying her towards the dungeons of their own accord.

Taking a moment to quickly re-assure herself that there was absolutely no way that Snape was ignoring her because he liked her (even though her heart jumped at the idea.) she pushed the thoughts out of her mind (or at least into a back corner.) and kept her mind blank until she found herself knocking on Snape's oaken office door.

"Enter." His icy voice beckoned from behind the barrier. Taking a deep breath to convince her self that she couldn't run Ginny twisted the knob and entered the room. Snape glanced up from the work on his desk to see who had entered but when he spotted her he looked back down and pointed to a table set up across from him with a mini potion brewing center set up on its surface. Ginny supposed that it was because all of the equipment would not fit onto his desk but part of her couldn't help but wonder if that was the real reason.

Not needing verbal instructions Ginny went and sat at the desk to find a book open to the instructions for the potion that she would be brewing, reading them over once she set to work.

Everything went fine until it came time to add the unicorn hair and Ginny realized that there was none laid out for her as the other ingredients had been. Not knowing whether she should cross the professor by asking for help of just to keep quiet, Ginny finally decided that it would be worse to ruin the potion and waste the ingredients.

"Sir?" She asked cautiously. Snape paused and glanced up from his work with irritation.

"Yes, Miss. Weasley?" He asked acidly, but Ginny didn't back down.

"Sir, I don't have any unicorn hair." She explained. Snape shot her a glare as if it were her own fault.

"I see." He sneered before standing up. He quickly flicked his wand at the cauldron which seemed to freeze, but when looked at more closely was discovered to be in super_, super,_ slow motion. He then stalked over to a cupboard and drew out a clump of long billowing unicorn hair, made his way over and tossed it down onto the desktop. Ginny stared at the hair, it looked familiar… then revelation hit her, he had seen this hair before, clamped in strong wolf's jaws. She glanced from Snape to the hair and back again.

"It was you." She finally sputtered, forgetting that they were supposedly ignoring each other.

"What are you talking about?" He scowled, he hadn't moved from his spot where he was sanding.

"That night on the grounds, the wolf, this hair, it was you!" She rambled as it all fitted together, _that was why he was coming form the entrance when he caught me!_ And the wolf had only been howling after Snape had found out about Lily.

"Miss. Weasley that is complete hogwash." Snape snapped. Ginny shook her head.

"You can't buy hair this long in the stores…" She continued to ramble.

"Miss. Weasley that is enough! The idea is absolutely ludicrous; now get to work before the potion is ruined." He snapped, perhaps just a little too angry for the situation, but his tone told her that it was final.

Ginny gave in but couldn't help but smile when she went back to work, adding the hair to her potion. At the end of the session, when Ginny's potion was successfully brewed and corked into a phial, the work station efficiently cleaned up and her things packed to leave she made her way towards the door, not glancing at his desk to see if he was watching. She had just reached for the doorknob when-

"Miss. Weasley." Snape called. Ginny turned to see that the professor was leaning against his desk, his arms crossed and a sour look on his face. "You will tell no one." He said coldly, glaring at her in a way that absolutely screamed you-will-pay-if-I-find-out-you've-told.

"No sir." Ginny mumbled. Snape nodded and turned away from her which she took as her cue to leave.

In the hallway a triumphant look broke onto her face. Snape certainly had not been warning her against telling people what she had admitted, or what she had done to his hair.

A/N: There you go, **Masterdeeds**, you were of course right but as you wished I didn't tell you and ruin it for you. Thanks for guessing and I'm glad you got it right.

-Darth Depravious.

p.s, waiting for more guesses!


	17. What's Wrong With Me?

**Cry Wolf**

**XVII: "What's wrong with me?"**

The Halloween feast, Ginny assured herself, was the grandest and most delicious that she had ever had, and even though Ginny repeatedly told herself that she would never forget it, by the time November made it's entrance and near exit it had become a distant memory, and by the time the month finally reached it's close, she had forgotten it completely.

The first week of December crept by, and as it was throughout all of November, her situation with professor Snape didn't change. He continued to ignore her and pretend as if she had never touched his hair, or that she knew he was an animagus.

Ginny in return, continued to pretend that she was ignoring him as well, but he never noticed the way that she watched him in classes, when no one else was looking.

The only problem with this situation was that the longer that the two played this game, the more frustrated with the man's behavior Ginny became, until one Friday evening, the week before Christmas holidays, Ginny couldn't take it anymore and decided that it was about time that she got to the bottom of this.

"That's it! I'm going to find out what is his problem." She announced to Anna-Rose who had just been in the middle of asking for help with her charms homework. Anna gave Ginny a what-the-hell-are-you-talking-about? Look, and had just opened her mouth to ask exactly that when before she could Ginny sprung from her chair and vanished through the portrait hole, leaving Anna quite alone.

XXX

Severus Snape sat in his cold dungeons, crossing out mistakes in an essay with his red inked quill. He was trying very hard not to think of the very old yet very persistent memories of the young Gryffindor brat sweeping his hair out of his face, or how the hooligan had blurted out exactly what she had.

He had been insulting her in his mind for weeks now, telling himself over and over again

That she was just a foolish child, but the thoughts didn't go away, and the insults were really only a tactic to keep him self from calling her Ginny.

Dropping his quill he pinched the bridge of his nose against the headache that was forming behind his eyes. He was just thinking of breaking his abstinence from liquor when there was a knock on the door and his headache doubled. _Damn. _She was here.

How could he have forgotten that she was coming already? He had just thought about it moments ago, hadn't he?

No, he had been having other thoughts, thoughts that shouldn't even be allowed to enter his mind by freak chance, let alone set up a permanent residence as his had.

Realizing that the could not leave the girl locked outside forever he had just parted his lips to beckon her in when the door flew open as if of it's own free will and she barged in, her features stern and her eyes flashing. After she closed the door she crossed her arms and seemed to swell with anger as he had seen her mother, Molly, do when she was about to go into some rant about exactly what was on her mind. _Great._

"Miss Weasley, you may not barge in here of your own accord, you must knock and wait to be called in. Now get to brewing your potion." He snapped, retrieving his quill and distracting himself from her by scratching away at an essay, his head throbbing more profusely.

"I will do no such thing!" She barked defiantly. Something in Snape's center flamed into rage at these words.

"What?" He demanded, rising to his feet and leaving his work forgotten. His hand instantly gripped the handle of his wand; perhaps over-reacting but Severus Snape was not a man who was used to being defied. But seemingly despite his obvious anger, the young witch remained un-swayed. In fact she seemed to swell even more, her hands balling themselves into fists.

"Don't pull the superior professor inferior student crap with me, I'm angry, confused and I want answers! She shouted. Snape gaped at her for a moment, where did this witch come from? What happened to her usual relenting self? It seemed that she had finally uncovered some of her Gryffindor boldness, but who exactly did she thing she was? Who was this girl to come down here and demand such things from him?

"Gin-Nevra Weasley, your behavior is unacceptable and I will not tolerate it, now either take your seat or you will have detention for a month!" he bellowed. Ginny glared at him and raised her chin in defiance, ignoring his threat, her eyes burning like fire.

"No, I need answers, what exactly is your problem, why are you so different, why on earth do you think that you killed Lily Evans?" she shouted at him.

If Snape had been expecting something, it hadn't been that. It was more likely that he would have expected anything, and he meant _anything, _other than that.

"50 points from Gryffindor and detention for the rest of the month. Now get to brewing and don't say that I didn't warn you." He snapped, deliberately avoiding her questions and shooting a glare her way before turning his back on her and stalking over to his ingredient laden wall where he stared absent mindedly at a pig fetus which floated lazily in its greenish booger looking ooze.

From behind him the Gryffindor heaved a sigh, after a moment she tried a new tactic, as if she knew that being forceful would not work with this man.

"Why can't you just tell me? It's only one question." She asked softly.

"Did I not make myself clear Miss Weasley?" he asked icily, but it left her undeterred.

"Why do you think you killed Lily?" she asked, softer still. He heard her take a few steps towards him and after a moments pause he turned back to face her, his expression heavily guarded.

"I believe that is none of your business." He growled, wishing she would just leave from exasperation with him.

"Don't you trust me?" She asked.

"Why should I?" He countered, feeling much like a troubled teen being confronted during his school years.

At his words the young witch blushed a deep shade of crimson.

"I think you know why." She mumbled, glancing away from him.

"Potter never told you about the prophecy?" He questioned. Why on earth was he telling her this? She was a student; he shouldn't trust her with such information.

The young girl eyed him with a sense of knowing before nodding.

"He did." She admitted. "But you didn't predict the future, and you didn't plant it in Trelawney's mind, what do you have to do with that?"

He watched her with scrutinizing suspicion through narrowed eyes. _He shouldn't tell her._

"Someone told the prophecy to the dark lord. Lily's dead, it's my fault." He stated bluntly, trying to repel the memories, he didn't want to think about her, he couldn't. so to distract himself he did the only think he could think of, he sneered at the student in front of him and as cruelly as he could he said,

"Well go ahead Weasley, laugh in my face, we both know that you want to."

XXX

Ginny watched the professor as he seemed to tremor slightly with… what? Pent up anger? Sadness? Regret? All three? She didn't know, but how could he ever think that she'd laugh at him? It certainly wasn't funny, how could he blame himself for such a bad judgment? He couldn't have known that Voldemort would have reacted, he had no way of knowing. But how could she possibly tell him this?

As if acting on instinct she quickly went to him and wrapped her arms around him in a hug much like her mother gave her when she was feeling down.

But much unlike melting her into comfort like her mother managed to do, the dark stern man went as rigid as ice and she was so sure that the only reason he wasn't hexing her off of him was because he was literally too shocked to move.

"It's not you fault." She said firmly, her tone leaving no room for question.

Of course it was her turn to freeze with shock when she felt Snape's arms return her embrace.

"No one's told me that, _ever."_ He said gruffly, but milliseconds later he quickly detangled himself from her and leapt away, he wouldn't look at her as he marched briskly to his desk.

"Get brewing, you're detention will be tomorrow night at 8pm sharp! He snapped, swooping up his papers from the desktop and then rushing from the room to his private chambers behind a smaller maple door. But he didn't manage to escape before Ginny saw, what she swore was, blush in his cheeks.

Once the door closed behind him Ginny squealed with delight and did a jig of ecstacy. She had just hugged Snape! BROODING DARK MYSTERIOUS AND DEAD SEXY SNAPE!

'_**Told you that you could seduce him.'**_

'_How could I doubt it? This is sooo great!'_

'_**Still a ways to go yet though.'**_

'_What do you mean?' _she asked herself. For Snape this was like the breakthrough of the century.

'**_We haven't go any action yet.' _**Her second side said slyly. Ginny rolled her eyes.

'_I doubt it will go any further.'_

'**_Curves are a powerful weapon my friend.' _**Was the only response she received before she remembered that she was supposed to be brewing and got to work.

XXX

"DAMN IT!" Snape bellowed as he entered his private rooms and slammed his papers down onto the table. How could he have let this happen? He kicked the door opened as he stalked into the bedroom and tore through his dresser drawers for clean boxers to wear once he got out of the shower.

Why did he even tell her anything about his life? He slammed the dresser drawer sending a loud thud and vibrations through the walls which shook the items on his bookshelves. How could he have allowed Gin- A STUDENT! To approach him in that manner?

He stormed into the bathroom and flicked his wand at the taps with so much force that they nearly exploded to life. While he waited for the cold water to run out of the old taps he glared at himself in the mirror, wishing the image of him and the young witch in ach other's arms to leave him, to go crawl into a hole and die somewhere, but it didn't want to go.

"What's wrong with me? He breathed exasperatedly. "I should have never touched her, let alone told her anything!" his voice rose to an almost yell as he stared at his reflection disgustedly. "I AM NEARLY 40 FOR MERLIN'S SAKES!"

"Men of all ages have needs deary." The mirror wheezed.

Snape's lip curled to a very high extreme before he turned from the mirror to undress and step into the steaming hot shower.

"And to think I have detention with her." He growled as the scalding water assaulted his skin. Maybe he could unload her onto Filch he thought hopefully, noticing that his migraine was miraculously gone. But could he unload her onto Filch for an entire month?

XXX

A/n, yea! That's right, new chapter! DO THE MACKARENA! (I apologize for the horrible spelling of mackarena.) sorry it took so long to get this up but grade 12 is super hectic and I might be getting a job which leaves even less time, but hey, I promise I will put up at least 3 chapters over Christmas break if I can't during school. Please don't hate me!

-Darth Depravious.


	18. Liquidized Mermaid Scales

**Cry Wolf**

**XVIII: Liquidized Mermaid Scales.**

The door to the Gryffindor girls' dormitories opened much louder than necessary as Ginny entered the room, singing, pirouetting, and beaming as if she had just won a million galleons. Of course in her sheer joy she did not realize that she was being far too noisy for the time of day in which she was returning to the dormitory.

It was just such careless noise which woke a bleary eyed Anna-Rose who sat up to glare at Ginny just as another girl in the dorm, Tia Fatopeh, pulled back her hangings to see what was going on.

"Ginny what are you doing? Have you gone insane?" Anna asked as she rubbed the sand out of her eyes while somehow managing to continue to glare at Ginny around her fingers. Ginny, however, didn't notice and did another pirouette on the way to her bed.

"I haven't gone insane Anna. I'm just happy. The sun is shining, it's a beautiful day and nothing in the world could go wrong." She sang before flopping onto her bed. Anna rolled her eyes before getting up and coming to sit with Ginny on the redheaded witch's bed.

"What happened with him?" She asked knowingly. Ginny refused to look at Anna but her cheeks flushed slightly.

"What would give you the idea that something happened?" she asked with fake 'I-don't-know-what-you're-talking-about-ignorance.' Anna repeated her roll of the eyes.

"Well, let's see, besides the fact that one, the sun went down two hours ago, two, it is snowing like crazy outside, three, The third years lost Gryffindor lost 70 points in potions class today and four, you said, and I quote, _"that's it, I'm going to see what's his problem." _before storming out of the common room, I would have to say that it has something to do with the mysterious _him._" She concluded, looking very smug indeed. Tia laughed from her bunk across the room as Ginny blushed even deeper and couldn't help but smile.

"Can you read me that well?" She asked.

"Like a juicy Witch Weekly article. Now what happened?" Anna repeated.

"I hugged him!" Ginny squealed, unable to control herself.

"What!" Anna exclaimed, clearly excited. "How?" she demanded.

Ginny protested to explaining at first but eventually, to avoid hours of excessive nagging, she launched into a very brief, generalized and extremely edited version of the tale. She only managed to pull it off by constantly using the word 'he' and leaving out the long argument part.

"So he thought that his friend's dog dying was his fault?" Anna repeated back the cock-and-bull story. Ginny nodded. "Weird." Anna commented. "But that's not important, what did Gregory do when you hugged him?" She asked. Ginny rolled her eyes.

"Nice try Anna, but it's not Gregory, and if you mean Goyle you should start running now." She said with a glare. Anna just managed to suppress a smirk.

"No of course not, but what happened? Did he hug you back?" She questioned. Ginny blushed even deeper and nodded. Anna squealed with delight and clapped her hands together.

"This means that he has to like you! Ginny you have to ask him out." She exclaimed.

"No way." Ginny objected immediately.

"Why not, c'mon Gin, he obviously showed interest!" She pointed out.

"No he was just shocked, that's all, he didn't know what else to do and he ran away from me right after so forget that idea." She said, leaving no room for any objections.

"You're so difficult." Anna growled with another incessant roll of her eyes.

"That you Miss Little Black Kettle, now please leave my bed, I need to get to sleep so I'm not late for class tomorrow." Anna heaved a sigh and returned to her own bunk.

Ginny ignored her and, without bothering to change into pajamas, crawled under the sheets of her bed.

"Gin?" Anna called after a long pause which surrounded the sound of Tia closing her hangings right in its middle.

"Yes Anna?" Ginny mumbled into her pillow, realizing that she had been on the edge of plunging into sleep.

"Will you at least tell me what house he's in?" She pleaded, desperate for a clue.

"He's not in a house." Ginny murmured, slightly annoyed at the constant questions and not realizing that she had actually given away a clue.

"Stubborn Ass." Anna sulked.

"Love you too dearie." Ginny slurred her mind on Anna's previous statement and not being able to help but wonder. Had there been any show of interest? Was it not an episode of freak chance? Had Snape actually returned her gesture for reasons besides complete shock?

But before she could ponder any of these questions her mind slipped into slumber and her thoughts of the potions master shifted into dreams.

XXX

"Be careful with your ingredients. If anyone spills any of my liquidized mermaid scales I will be extremely displeased." Snape sneered, his eyes roaming over the class, skipping over and refusing to look at Ginny before continueing their scrutiny.

It had been that way all class. Snape had refused to look at her while he taught, he did not roam the aisles only to stop and insult her potion and in fact he did not pay her the slightest bit of obvious attention at all.

But she had caught him staring at her while the class was at work, busy with their potions. She'd looked up to see him watching her multiple times and each time he would quickly look away, trying to make her believe that he was simply surveying the class and keeping note of their progress. _Nice try._

'_**It's a little annoying but at least he's paying attention.'**_

'_Annoying yes, but also charming.'_

'_**How is someone spying on you charming?'**_

'_Don't question me I'm working!' _She snapped at herself before bringing back her concentration and adding the lavender petals to her potion.

"Gin, how're you doing that?" Anna asked from beside her. The fellow Gryffindors potion was an ugly green; it was supposed to be a purplish blue.

"You added too many Gnarl quills; add more of this lavender until it evens out." She said, handing Anna the bottle.

"How do you know this stuff?" Anna asked, annoyed. "At the start of the school year you were just as bad as me and now your practically that Hermione girl." She grumped.

Ginny giggled at Anna's fluster before adding the last ingredient which was the liquidized mermaid scales. After the 4 necessary drops were in she stirred the potion until it turned pink. After setting her spoon aside she felt the familiar sense that she was being watched. Without moving her head Ginny glanced up and saw that he was watching her work, ignoring his own tasks and tapping his quill on the desk.

A wicked idea entering her head Ginny quickly tilted her head up and blew him a kiss, acting on complete spontaneity.

Snape frowned and flushed ever so slightly before snapping his attention back to his own work.

Ginny beamed at her own out of character daring and wondered what is was about him lately that brought out this side of her self.

"There, I've go it fixed. How did yours turn out Gin?" Anna asked, proudly showing off her sunset pink potion.

"Just as good as yours, I'll go get us some vials to bottle samples in." She said.

"All right, I'll clean up." Anna replied before beginning to clean up the mess that had been made as a result of the potion brewing process. Ginny meanwhile retrieved the vials for their potion samples and brought them back to the desk.

Suddenly as she set down the vials the small bottle of liquidized mermaid scales went crashing to the floor and smashed, spattering onto the stone floor.

"MISS WEASLEY!" Snape instantly bellowed. Ginny snapped her head around to see that Snape was scowling at her, just slipping his wand up his sleeve before crossing his arms. "Did I not make myself clear when I said that I did not want any of this spilled?" he asked mockingly.

"Of course not sir." She answered in most annoying sing song voice, wondering where he was going with this. His scowl deepened.

"I was going to organize your detention with filch tonight but I think that you will alphabetize my filing cabinet instead." He growled, his eyes not flashing maliciously as they usually did but looking as if they were dealing with some internal struggle.

"Of course sir." She sang again, causing the class to snigger.

"You will be here at six!" Snape barked to cut the class off. "Now clean that mess up and five points from Gryffindor." He added before stalking back to his desk and gathering a large pile of essays. "You will all leave your samples on my desk for grading. After everything is cleaned you may all leave the classroom." He instructed as the bell rang.

Ginny sighed and bent to clean up the mess of clear blue ooze and glass shards.

"Gin, do you want me to wait for you?" Anna-Rose asked, pausing on her walk by.

"Nah, go ahead. I'll catch up to you in the great hall." She told her friend.

"Okay seen you then."

"See you." Ginny replied, as she deposited the garbage into the waste bin and went to retrieve her things.

As she crossed the room Snape allowed his gaze to follow her with out trying to hide it from the class but Ginny was disappointed that he seemed aggravated.

"You know sir," She began boldly, "People may call you a hypocrite if you smash your own ingredients." Snape's lip curled.

"Miss. Weasley we need to have a discussion before your detention." He growled.

"Why not now?" She asked cheekily.

"Do not question me G-Miss. Weasley, and do not continue to test my tolerance. Now go to lunch." He said firmly, making it very clear that, for now this was the end of the discussion.

"Yes sir, see you at six." She said merrily before skipping out of the room.

'_**What could he possible want to talk about?'**_

'_As long as I'm not doing detention with Filch then who cares?''_

'_**Instead you are 'doing' detention with Snape.'**_

'_You are so immature.'_

'_**You're the one full of hormones not me.'**_

'_You are me.'_

'_**Touché.'**_

'_Damn straight.' _She told herself as she ascended from the dungeons and went to meet Anna-Rose in the Great hall.

XXX

Snape stared blankly at the paper in front of him, wondering how to tell that Gryffindor scum that her ludicrous behavior could not continue.

He did not listen to the part of himself which enjoyed her attention, only to the part of him self that had been taught that accepting her attentions would be wrong.

But how would he tell her such a thing?

He would be a teacher he would tell her what she needed to be taught. If it broke her heart, too bad. If it drove her away, he could drink her away for good.

XXX

A/n,

Wow, I didn't mean to make Snape so head over heels but it seems that he is, at least he still won't accept it. That a man Snape! Yea!

member how I said last time that I might be getting a job? Well I am now a valued employee of subway! Which is super awesome because I get a free sub for every shift that I work and sometimes Karen (the manager) gives me free cookies. Thanks for reviews and next chapter is the detention!

-Darth Depravious.


	19. It Wouldn't Work

**Cry Wolf**

**XIX: "It Wouldn't Work."**

After the scale-spilling-experience during potions class, Ginny had spent a rather boring lunch listening to Anna-Rose fawn over her new crush.

"_Right, telling me about her crush is SO going to make me want to tell her about Severus..."_ She thought watching as Anna's lips moved but not focusing on what words her lips were forming. Realizing what she'd done, Ginny had to mentally shake her head as an equivalent of slapping herself in the forehead. Had she just called him Severus? Since when had she called him anything other than Snape? Luckily Anna was preoccupied by twirling spaghetti onto her spoon and didn't notice that Ginny, lost in thought, was paying her no attention. In fact she had just let her eyes wander from Anna to the potions professor who had just sat himself down at the staff table.

"Miss. Frizzen, if you mind not speaking for a moment, could you kindly tell me whether you're staying for the holidays or not?" McGonagall asked from her right where she was holding her familiar clipboard and papers covered in student names. Anna-Rose blushed slightly before shaking her head.

"No ma'am, my family is going to Russia to visit my mother's side of the family for the holidays." She explained. McGonagall nodded and turned to Ginny.

"What about you Miss. Weasley, will you be staying at the castle for the holidays?" Ginny swallowed the potatoes she had in her mouth and nodded.

"Yes professor, I have to stay to finish my potions project." She explained. McGonagall clicked her tongued and scribble down Ginny's name onto her list.

"Leave it to Severus to be the only professor who gives homework over the holidays." She muttered under her breath before carrying on down the table to collect more names.

Anna instantly flew back into her story, still with Ginny not listening, but rather thinking about how nice the name Severus sounded, the nice rolling of the tongue over the syllables that occurs when you speak it that didn't show up when she was bantering with herself. Ginny popped a meatball into her mouth, still off in her own thoughts, as Anna continued with her monologue.

"Sorry Anna, but I have to go send my parents an owl to tell them that I'm staying here for the holidays." She said suddenly, pushing her plate away so it promptly disappeared the moment she got up from the bench. Anna blinked at the sudden statement.

"Oh, all right then, we can always talk about this later." Anna agreed. "You know Gin it's sad that you have to stay here just because of homework." She added. Ginny smiled.

"I'm not staying here just because of homework, Mum and Dad are heading to Egypt _again_ to visit Bill, they were going to have me stay at Gri- An uncle's house, but I think I'd rather stay here." She explained, realizing that she had almost said Grimmauld Place but had caught herself just in time.

"Oh, I see." Anna nodded, "Go send your owl then, it will be time to head to charms soon."

"All right, see you then." Ginny agreed and then picked up her bag, swung it over her shoulder and exited the great hall. She hoped one of the school owls would be able to return a reply from her parents since they had retired Errol but hadn't been able to get a replacement yet. She would hate to be the cause of a break in retirement life for poor old Errol, but of course Pigwidgeon was off with Ron, wherever he had gone to. Perhaps she would get her parents a new owl for Christmas…

* * *

"You're late." His voice was irritated and he glared at her as she entered the room. "Twelve minutes, twelve points from Gryffindor."

Ginny puffed as she closed the door behind her, her bag had split at the top of the grand staircase and everything, instead of falling into a neat little pile at her feet, had cascaded down the staircase like a waterfall. With no help she had been forced to go down, step by step, picking up papers as she went only just, surprising enough to her, managing not to fall.

"Sorry sir, my bag split." She said quickly before discarding the offending bag beside the door, her back to him. Snape's lip curled while she was turned but he didn't comment.

"Have a seat Miss. Weasley so we may discuss certain matters." He said coldly. Ginny, curious to what he may have to discuss but not willing to sass at him in her angry-at-stupid-school-bags mood quickly took a seat at a desk and watched him expectantly. He ignored her and turned back to the pile of essays on his desk, slashing red marks into them with his quill and scribbling criticism.

After a long pause where nothing was said Ginny cleared her throat awkwardly.

"So…" She ventured. "Is marking essays basically all you do?" She asked, knowing she sounded like a moron. Where had the boldness that she had earlier gone to? Snape flicked a glance her way that clearly said 'Don't-screw-with-me' and went back to the remaining essays. His refusal to even snipe at her told her that he wasn't in the mood for chatter.

"_**I'd say the cat has his tongue."**_

"_He's probably just drawing out my punishment, trying to think of the best way to torture me."_

"_**Torture… perhaps whips, eh? Hmmmm….."**_

"_Eugh! You're disgusting."_

"_**So are you my dearie."**_

"Miss. Weasley, this is not the time to be daydreaming, did you hear a word I said?" Snape's voice cut into her thoughts like a knife and Ginny couldn't help but blush at what thoughts he had intruded.

"Sorry Sir." She said, nervously cracking her knuckles and watching him. She noticed that he had finished marking the essays and had his hands folded on the table, his dark eyes watching her.

"I had said that it was time to discuss you're unruly behavior but since you seem so unable to pay attention perhaps you should complete you detention first. Go clean the jars stacked on the back counter. No magic." He snapped.

"Yes sir." Ginny relented before rising form her seat and heading to the back of the room.

"_See the trouble that you get me into!"_

"_**You bring it onto yourself."**_

"_Bull shit."_

"_**No thanks."**_

"_Screw you."_

"_**You mean screw him."**_

"_UUUUUUGGGGGGGHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!! This is not the time to think about that!!!" _Ginny screamed at herself before taking up a rag that was near the pile of jars and beginning to wipe out their insides, which were covered in dried, caked on potion sludge. She glanced behind herself to see that Snape was watching her before, catching her gaze, he glanced away and picked up a book from his desk, opened it to a specific page and began to read, eyes scrolling back and forth.

_Yeah, real inconspicuous. _She thought before turning back to her work, disgusted by the thought of just how long the sludge had been left in these jars.

An hour and a half later Ginny finally threw down the rag for the last time and placed the last jar next to its shining comrades.

"Finally finished?" Snape asked from his desk, putting his book down and watching her with narrowed eyes.

"Yes sir." She replied, noticing how amazingly fast he had noticed that she was done, just happening to glance up from his book at the right moment.

"Come up here and sit then." He commanded. Ginny complied and took her seat, watching the professor squarely, not bothering to avert her eyes from his piercing gaze.

"Miss. Weasley your behavior has been completely unacceptable." He said bluntly. "What you are doing can not continue without getting you into trouble with more than just me. I'm ordering you to never, and I mean _never _blow kisses or anything of the like to me during class ever again. _Is that clear?"_ He barked. Ginny nodded, wicked thoughts forming in her mind.

"Yes sir, I can see that you'd rather save it for private wouldn't you?" She said huskily. Snape's eyes flashed and he shook slightly with rage but Ginny did not avert her gaze. If there was something to what was going on between them she was going to find out, even if it meant a whole years worth of detentions.

"Miss. Weasley I don't know who you think you are, but you will not speak to me in that manner." He snarled, barely above a whisper, voice deadly but it didn't distract her from what he had done. He had not answered her question but rather avoided it, and that was just enough to spur her on further.

"Why are you afraid to be with me professor?" She asked, ignoring his warning. Snape clenched his teeth and stood.

"Miss. Weasley, not only is what your suggesting very unprofessional, but you are underage, I am old enough to be your father, it is strictly against school, ministry and even muggle law, and it is incredibly morally incomprehensible. This is nothing more than a school crush and I will not have you risking my job and your expulsion by trying to pursue it." He roared. Ginny was once again overwhelmed by how imposing he was when angered, but she knew that he wasn't as entirely dangerous as he seemed. The worst he could do without loosing his job was insult her so she had no fear.

"I don't care!" She said firmly, "I don't care about professionalism; I don't care about being underage or age difference! Age is just a stupid number, it doesn't mean anything! I don't care what the school, ministry or even muggles would think! Morals are just something everyone teaches us so that we do what they find acceptable and it is not just a crush! I can't get you out of my frigging head Severus!" She said before quickly clapping a hand over her mouth, expecting uproar for using his first name. Surprisingly however, he didn't seem to even notice.

"Leave Ginny." He snapped and turned his back on her to go distract herself with the books on his shelf.

"_**There, he's let it slip, he called you Ginny, don't let him block you out!"**_

"_Like hell I will."_

"_**That a girl."**_

"Don't hide from me." She demanded, crossing the room and trying to face him but he turned away again and headed for another book shelf.

"I am not hiding Miss. Weasley, I told you to leave and take your childish accusations with you." He barked, counting spines on volumes to attempt to look as if he were doing something important.

"Yes you are, you're blocking me out, and that's the same as hiding."

"I would think not."

"God you're an ass." She blurted.

"Merlin, to think I'd be plagued with a nag just like her twice in my life." He blurted at the same time. Both froze at the other's comment and the room fell silent for a moment.

"Five points from Gryffindor." He said, breaking the pause by punishing her for her outburst.

"Like who?" She asked, wondering just who he had meant.

"I think you know." He said evasively before beginning to draw random volumes out of the book shelf, just as who he had been speaking of clicked into place in Ginny's mind.

"Professor, I'm not Lily, she was your family and friend. I don't want to be your family, or your friend." She told him.

"_**Well at least not by relation."**_

"It would never work Ginny, put it out of your mind, wait for Potter." He told her coldly, turning to carry the books to his desk and finding her in his path. (Damn! Why had he gone to the bookshelf in the corner?)

"I don't want to wait for him; he won't come back for me." She said softly, remembering her dream from long ago, it was him who had told her that.

"He will defeat the dark lord and return to you safe and sound." He said, noticing how close she was drawing towards him, her face a mere foot from his.

"That's not why." She mumbled.

"It wouldn't work." He repeated, but he had no conviction in his voice. Her face was now even closer.

"It will." She argued, and he couldn't help but notice the brilliant colour of her eyes, the soft waves that her hair fell in and the pinkness of her lips that made them appear as if they were roses. All things he had overlooked before.

"_**NOW!"**_

Ginny stood to her tiptoes and brought her lips softly to his, vaguely hearing the books he was holding hit the floor as she moved her lips softly against his thin white lips. Any minute she expected him to run, to push her from him and tell her she was expelled; but he didn't draw away.

* * *

**A/N:** Hey everybody? How's it hangin'? So the new chapter is finally up, and I just have to say that I think everybody owes Masterdeeds a big thanks for beta-ing (is that a word?) this chapter. Sorry it's been a while, but you know, school and stuff, the good news is that I already have the new chapter started so it shouldn't be too long of a wait!

Everybody help themselves to crab cakes or crab cake alternative, if you are either allergic to or dispise said crab cakes. :D

-Darth Depravious.


	20. Walking after Midnight

**A/N:** Hey everyone, here's the new chapter, hope you like it. Give another thanks to Masterdeeds who is an awesome beta. And to Masterdeeds, I decided not to send this back again just because I didn't feel that it had as many mistakes as the last one. You did a great job.

Thanks to everyone who reviewd last time, this story has over 12 000 hits and i don't even know how many words long it is but it's definitely pushing 50 000 if it hasn't broke it already. You all kept me going and continue to do so, enjoy the chapter.

* * *

**Cry Wolf**

**Chapter XX: Walking After Midnight.**

Severus Snape sat in his cold dungeons, slouched in his chair before a meek little fire, fighting the slumber that threatened to invade his mind. Despite the chill that surrounded him in the room he made no move to feed the fire and save it from starvation. Instead he shivered as his mind clouded over with thoughts, the constant crusade of worry that had charged in onslaught against his mind these past few days was not about to give up.

What exactly had come over him? How could he have allowed Ginny, for she was just Ginny now, to do what she had done? He should never have let her seduce him into that kiss; he was supposed to be pushing her away. How did it happen that she kept falling closer?

_A fine mess I'm in._ He thought, marveling over the fact that he had not slept, and he could not work without his mind drifting. Why was it that he couldn't think of anything but her? _It's no mystery, she's beautiful._

_No! Where had that thought come from?_ He queried, immediately disgusted with himself for such thoughts. The old excuses ran through his mind, of age, propriety, and the almighty law. But what were these things? Were these things that should really control his life?

Quickly he shook his head. _Get yourself together! _He couldn't be thinking these things about her. If he came to see these thoughts as normal in his mind then it wouldn't be long before he acted on them. He couldn't act in this situation, it would risk too much. _Not to mention the obvious reasons!_ He thought to himself, filled with as much disgust as he had been the night he had woken from his sleep to find himself hard from dreams of her. That was why he hadn't slept since the kiss. His dreams, although pleasurable, sent his guilt into overdrive, and left him in a state of hatred towards his subconscious.

Suddenly a knock on the door caused him to jump with surprise, but not fright, he didn't get frightened. With a flick of his wand he lit the lights in the room and stood to answer the door.

He didn't wonder who it was that was calling at this hour of the night. There was only one meddler that would be out and about the castle at this hour of the morning.

Grasping the brass handle of the oaken door, he pulled it back on silent hinges to reveal the headmaster.

"Good morning Headmaster." He greeted.

"Good morning Severus," Dumbledore responded, running his fingers through his long white beard while ever presently regarding him with his sky blue eyes that twinkled as if with mischief. "Unable to sleep I presume?" He asked, almost innocently, but Snape saw the slight brightening in his familiar twinkle.

"I'm afraid not." He responded, suddenly quite aware of the thoughts that had been passing through his mind moments before. Without hesitation he quickly put his skills at occlumency into action, he wouldn't let the manipulative genius that was Albus Dumbledore to hold this over his head.

"Sometimes insomnia can claim the best of us." Dumbledore chuckled before stepping into the room once Snape had stepped aside.

"May I ask what has brought you to the dungeons at this hour, headmaster?" Snape asked as he closed the door behind Dumbledore. Once the latch clicked he made his way to his desk to sit down across from where Dumbledore had already seated himself.

"Of course, although it's rather important news that I have come here to tell you I will admit that there isn't much to it, so I'll be out of your hair in a few moments." Dumbledore replied with a smile, as he scooted his chair closer to the desk. Snape watched the Headmaster for a moment, thinking of the witch that usually sat in that seat before he brought himself back to the present.

"And what news would this be?" He asked, raising a single brow in question. Dumbledore chuckled again and sighed.

"Always dead serious aren't you Severus? Well anyway, your choice of persona is beyond the point." Here he paused and moved some of Ginny's study material that had been left behind aside so that he could fold his hands on the desk. "It has come to my attention from various reliable sources that another death eater has broken out of Azkaban." He continued, his voice suddenly very serious, nothing like the jolly chuckle it had been moments before.

Snape regarded the headmaster with interest. He was not surprised that another had escaped, since Voldemort's return he knew that it was only a matter of time before the dementors handed all of the dark lord's followers back to the villain. After all, there was no benefit for the dementors to remain on the light side, Voldemort always had, and always would have more to offer them than the pathetic ministry ever could. That was why the news that another death eater had wormed his way out of the prison's walls didn't pique his interest in the slightest. The identity of the death eater however, certainly did.

"Which one of the dark lord's followers has gone back to him this time?" He asked, knowing that there was quite a selection among the many that Voldemort could be prepared to call back to his side. That was, after he thought that they had served a sufficient amount of time for neglecting to search him out in his time of bodiless wandering.

"Who else? It is none other than our old friend Burnolt Binnetly." Dumbledore said.

"Of course, the dark lord will need Burnolt's connections, even if his name is now tainted. Barry should be watched, his father could be drawing him to the dark lord's service." Snape suggested. Dumbledore nodded in agreement.

"I have suspected for some time now that Barry may indeed already be drawn into the dark lord's service. That is why I am down here in the cold at such an obscene hour. I want to ask you if you would _survey_ Barry while he is in your classes." Dumbledore finished. He patiently tented his fingers in front of him and watched Snape with patient eyes. Snape regarded the old man with slight annoyance.

"I suppose by _survey,_ you mean that you really want me to keep my eye on his mind during classes." He concluded. Dumbledore smiled at the younger man's intelligence and nodded.

"You could call it that. I only ask you because you are closer than most to the Binnetly family and Barry may trust you more than anyone else at this school, especially since you are a distant relative of his." He stated. Snape nodded, seeing the elder wizard's point.

"I'll keep a good watch on him then." He agreed, knowing that Barry could very well know the secret to where his father was hiding or possibly some well hidden agenda of the dark lord.

"Excellent, thank you Severus. Now, I can't tell you what to do, but I would suggest that you try to get some sleep, you've looked exceptionally haggard these past few days and I think that some sleep would be the best thing for you." He surveyed the potions master with knowing eyes before standing from his chair and making his way to the door. "But of course," He added, turning to face Snape once more, "Sometimes what is supposed to be good for us could make us miss the finer points in life." He finished, his eyes twinkling like mad, as if he were only just holding back some form of insane laughter.

"Good night headmaster." Snape said, as Dumbledore exited through the door, bidding his own farewells.

_What had that been?_ Sometimes the headmaster seemed just too insane for even him to take, despite the fact that he had to regularly deal with the maniacal dealings of the dark lord. At least Voldemort never told him to go to bed and then turned around and basically said 'don't go to bed.'

Sighing he stood up and extinguished the lights in the room. Perhaps he would try to get some sleep; it was only a few more days until the students were gone for Christmas. If he could last that long without snapping from fatigue then he wouldn't have to deal with a certain young red head until at least January. It wasn't until he had passed through the doorway that led to his rooms that he remembered what kind of dreams would be waiting for him and he froze as something clicked into place.

Was it possible that Dumbledore hadn't been telling him not to go to sleep? Despite his efforts, had the headmaster slipped into his mind and seen what he had been thinking about? And above all, was Dumbledore, in his own weird way, actually giving his permission?

With a scoff he shook his head and closed the door behind him. No way would the headmaster give him permission to pursue an underage witch, especially one that was his student, and whose parent's were members of the order.

He simply had to get these thoughts out of his head before he lost his composure and did something that he would later regret.

XXX

Quiet days passed since Ginny had pushed the boundaries of her daring and reaped the fruits of her hard work. Her imagination still let her feel the touch of his thin lips against hers and her ears still let her hear his intake of astonished breath once he had pulled away.

In sincerest truth she had expected a slaughter of house points and declarations of expulsion but he had said nothing. He had even done nothing, except to step around her and march out of the room to his private chambers. He did, however, slam the door so loud that the bookshelves shook and it echoed through the open door into the corridor. He had left so quickly, without so much as a backward glance, that he had left his books neglected on the floor.

Ginny had picked them up for him, replaced them onto the shelf into their proper places and then left, taking her own things with her back to the common room to enjoy a nag free evening. Anna-Rose had finally given up on guessing about Ginny's crush, after being refused information so many times she had simply quit, tired of the charade.

This was a fortunate turn of events (after the kiss all the world seemed to be looking up.) because Ginny knew that she couldn't tell Anna about the kiss, because it would drive Anna to find information at all costs. She didn't trust that Anna would only use persuasion to get this information from her, especially after they had just finished studying veritsarum in potions. She wouldn't put it past her roommate to slip some of the truth potion into her pumpkin juice. Anna-Rose Frizzen would do anything for gossip.

So for the next little while Ginny would have to do her best to hide her excitement from her friend. This wouldn't be very long at all, because by the time that Friday rolled around Ginny only had one more day that she would have to play fake before Anna would be gone to Russia for the holidays.

So, Friday morning Ginny determinedly got dressed and prepared to brave the day, after all, fooling Anna-Rose was a tough feat to accomplish despite all her previous practice.

XXX

"I see you've decided to grace us with your presence at the staff table Severus. What has brought you out of your dank dungeons this morning?" McGonagall asked Snape, a faint smile on her face as he took his usual seat next to her.

"Very funny, Minerva." He sneered as he reached for some toast.

"Well I suppose even vampires have to eat something besides blood every once in a while." She continued, clearly finding this quite funny. Snape rolled his eyes at the side of the deputy headmistress that none of the students ever saw, wishing he could in fact see less of it.

"Ha, ha." He fake laughed. "But I thought you of all people could at least come up with something more original, students have been calling me a vampire for years." He repeated his sneer. Minerva only laughed and shook her head.

"Seems you've won, as usual." She relented, carrying on like this was not something that she usually did, but the excitement of Christmas drawing nearer must have been getting to her. Besides, she was right about one thing, He always did beat her in their little mock-tiffs. "So, what's this I've heard about you keeping students to work on homework over the holidays?" She suddenly asked. Snape glanced up at the woman.

"I don't know where you heard this from Minerva, but I am not forcing any students to stay here over the holidays because of homework." He informed her before tuning back to his plate.

"Then why would Miss. Weasley tell me that she had to stay for the holidays to finish a project that you assigned?" She asked. Snape looked back up from his plate.

"She's not going home for the holidays?" He asked, watching her intently. McGonagall shook her head. "Then she must have chosen to stay. If you'll excuse me." He said before standing from the table and making towards the exit, leaving most of his food untouched and the deputy headmistress slightly perplexed.

As he passed into the entrance hall and made his way back towards the dungeons he could only wonder if Ginny had done this on purpose.

XXX

Luckily enough for Ginny, Anna-Rose barely even spoke to her all day. It turned out that the young witch was a very bad packer, and despite Ginny telling her that she could not skip the last day of classes to pack for the train, she had done it anyway. Objecting that if she didn't take this much time she would forget something and end up at home with no spare underwear like last year.

It ended up that Ginny said a quick goodbye to Anna, who was still searching for things even by the time that Ginny had to report for tutoring, before she headed off to the dungeons.

Surprising even herself, Ginny wasn't overly worried about what Snape was going to try to pull, she knew his tricks.

'_**Not to mention the fact that we know how to get under his skin.**_

'_You bet.' _She told herself, perhaps just a little over-confidently, but she had a right to be feeling elated. After all, she had only kissed him earlier this week.

Many staircases and corridors later, Ginny found herself outside the familiar oaken door and once again was raising her fist to knock. After the hollow echoes had finished resounding throughout the inner chamber Ginny heard the man of her thoughts mutter 'enter' from the other side of the door before she turned the knob.

"Good evening professor!" She said jubilantly as she entered the poorly lit room.

Snape didn't even look up from his work at her greeting but donned a scowl and pointed to her work table, which for the first time, was not the other side of his desk but a separate table set up at the other side of the room.

'_**Great he's moody.'**_

'_Yea, just great.'_

'_**Don't let him shake yeh.'**_

'_Since when would I do that?'_

Rolling her eyes Ginny opted not to argue but stalked over to her chair and took a seat. Truth be told she was nearly done with her project and knew that she would actually be able to hand it in completed and on time. Something that was rare for her in the subject of potions. She was surprised to find that for the first time in her life she was actually excited to find out how her assignment would turn out.

"I was informed today that you are not going home for the holidays." Snape suddenly spoke from his desk, although he still did not look at her.

'_**Same old routine, "I'll ignore you and you'll go away…" How old.'**_

'_At least it doesn't work anymore.'_

'_**Did it ever?'**_

"Yes, that's right. I have to finish this project." She told him simply, watching him closely to see his reaction. Unfortunately for her, his expression remained as blank as ever.

"I'm inclined to believe that that is not the only reason." He growled, either annoyed or confused.

"Well, mom and dad are going to Egypt again, and I think you know the other reason that I would stay." She said flirtatiously. At this Snape dropped his quill and sat up straight so that he could give her a meaningful glance.

"Miss Weasley, our relationship has become what I feel to be less than professional." He said coldly from his desk. Quietly she stood.

"I don't care about being professional professor." She told him bluntly, clearly aware of what he was trying to do.

"This is not something that is open for discussion; you clearly know that our situation is unacceptable." He said his voice void of emotion. She smirked as she walked over to stand next to his desk.

"It's not unacceptable if no one knows." She continued to flirt, she wanted this, and she was determined to have it.

"Miss. Weasley, do I have to repeat to you why I cannot allow this? Do you really want to go through that all over again?" He asked mockingly, trying to get to her by treating her like a child. Ginny smirked.

"I'd be glad to go over it all again, if you'd come for a walk with me." She said seductively before leaning in and placing a kiss on his cheek.

XXX

Snape went rigid as her soft lips caressed his cheek. Somewhere deep in his mind he knew that he should push her away, but he didn't move, he couldn't find it in himself to do so.

Just what had he gotten himself into? How had this come of something as innocent as a battle of wills?

Just then a thought clicked into place. That was the explanation. All of this was a ploy, it had to be. Why else would someone so young fall for someone like him?

"All right Miss. Weasley." He said suddenly, his voice biting much more than he had expected it to. Did part of him actually wish that it wasn't part of the mind war? That was a stupid question, one he refused to examine the answer to. "I see what you're doing now, you win. I surrender, go ahead and gloat." He sneered, _why was he taking this so harshly?_

To his surprise the young witch just looked at him, completely bewildered.

"I win what?" She asked.

"Don't play dumb, you win, the title of will battler is yours." He barked, ready to storm from the room, but he froze when he heard her laughing.

"I'd forgotten about that a long time ago." She admitted, once her giggles had subsided.

Snape watched her with amazement, all pretenses of propriety, society, ministry, age, and morals forgotten. _She was sincere._

"Are you coming?" She asked as she turned the door knob and opened it a crack.

"We cannot be seen together." He said; knowing it was his last excuse.

"No one will believe the person who cries wolf." She said with a mischievous grin. Snape surveyed her for a moment, amazed that despite her lack of trying, she had won anyway.

He guessed that her will was much stronger than his.

XXX

Anna-Rose tapped her finger against the glass of her dormitory window.

"Where could she be?" She asked Tia, who was also awake and waiting for Ginny, but only at Anna's request.

"I don't know." Tia groaned, sounding as if she'd much rather be asleep. "Why can't you just say goodbye to her in the morning?" She asked exasperatedly.

"Because I would never be able to wake her up on a weekend. She's impossible to wake up on Saturdays and I have to be at the train station in Hogsmead by eight o'clock." Anna explained for the fourteenth time.

"Then write her a letter." Tia suggested. Anna could tell that she was now talking through her pillow. Anna objected that she thought that was far too impersonal and that she would rather say goodbye in person, all the while tapping her finger onto the glass of the window. Suddenly Tia growled and jumped up from her bed, stalked over to where Anna-Rose was standing and yanked her hand away from the window.

"Stop that! Do you have any idea how annoying it is?"

"Geesh, sorry." Anna apologized, although only half heartedly.

"I would think so, not only do you make me stay up but then you drive me crazy by constantly tapping your finger on that!" She exclaimed, gesturing to the window.

Anna knew that the only reason Tia was being this rude was because she was tired so she chose to ignore it. Instead she gazed out of the window that Tia had gestured towards and surveyed the grounds. At first she saw nothing, but then something by the lake caught her eye.

"There's someone down there." She said, pointing out of the window.

"What?" Tia asked, forgetting that she had been throwing a fit, "Who is it?" Anna rolled her eyes.

"I'm not an owl Tia, I can't see in the dark." She said sarcastically. Tia, however, didn't seem to pick up on the sarcasm and ran over to her trunk. After a moment of digging she produced what looked like muggle binoculars with purple lenses and sun designs etched into the sides.

"What are those?" Anna asked as Tia reappeared at the window side and raised them to her eyes.

"Their reverse-o-scopes. They turn nighttime light into daytime light and vice versa. OH MY GOD IT'S GINNY!" She suddenly exclaimed.

"What?!"

"Here look!" Tia commanded before pressing the reverse-o-scopes into Anna's hands.

Anna raised the contraptions to her eyes and was surprised when everything around her did indeed look as if it were clear as day. Directing her gaze out the window she quickly spotted Ginny, strolling along the edge of the lake. A large black wolf was walking slightly ahead of her but was also obviously allowing her to keep up.

"What is she doing by the lake, with a wolf at nearly midnight?" Anna demanded, utterly confused and at a loss towards what else to say. Tia shrugged her shoulders.

"Maybe her new boyfriend is a werewolf. Can I go to bed now?"

XXX


	21. Anywhere Except My Office is Off Limits

**Cry Wolf**

**Chapter XXI: 'Anywhere Except My Office is Off Limits.'**

Along the far side of the lake, the trees blew gently in a mild breeze, but even though the wind showed no harsh hatred toward the world, it was mid December, and still freezing cold. Ginny soon found her self shivering and envious of Snape, who was safely enclosed in his thick coat of wolf's fur.

Snape however, seemed not to notice as he kept ahead of her most of the time, always waiting for her to catch up and then slowly stalking off again, but he never watched her when she approached. He only waited for the feel of her hand in his fur and then took off again. Ginny was surprised that he even let her touch him in the first place. In fact she wasn't sure what to believe at all, any moment she expected to wake up and find that this was all some sort of dream.

Silently they continued their stroll, the walls of the many greenhouses coming into view through the blanket of darkness around them. She watched as Snape rounded the corner of the greenhouse closest to them, his tail disappearing behind the bend.

With a violent shiver Ginny decided that she'd had enough of this cold and whistled sharply to get Snape's attention. The black wolf jumped and turned around, pinning his ears back Snape growled with annoyance. Ginny supposed that she shouldn't whistle at him like a common dog, but didn't stress the matter.

"Let's go in the greenhouses, I'm, freezing." She said her teeth chattering. Ginny swore that even as a wolf he could raise a single eyebrow in question, but after a moment he prowled back over to her and went through the door that she held open.

Ginny closed her eyes, welcoming the heat of the greenhouse that was regulated to support the exotic plants that it housed. When she finally opened them Snape was no longer in wolf form but leaning against a table covered in mandrake pots and watching her carefully.

"What is it?" She asked, fearing that he was having a change of heart and letting their age difference and all of that other garbage catch up to him again. He smirked and shook his head. Did he ever smile? It seemed that all she ever saw was that smirk. "What?" She repeated.

"I can't believe I let you lure me down here." He said, as if he was thinking along the same line as her, and this was just all some sort of dream. Ginny purposefully put on a smirk that matched his.

"You're the one that came." She teased in the same tone as him. His smirk broadened.

"Miss. Weasley, I cannot be held responsible for my actions when my vision has been clouded." He said, crossing his arms over his chest and waiting to see what her response would be. Smiling she walked towards him.

"And what would have your vision clouded?" She asked. He didn't reply but watched her, taunting her with his unreadable expression. "Would it be me?" She purred, wondering how she could call forth this boldness now but never when she needed it. Leaning in close to him she brushed her lips against his and was surprised when he responded for the first time, his thin lips moved against hers and his tongue brushing on her lips, wanting to enter. Slowly she parted her own lips and granted his request, their tongues met like dancers would in a delicate ballet, dancing with each other in slow circles.

When Ginny decided that she needed to breath she pulled away. Snape let her go and didn't look disappointed or angry; he seemed to know that she wasn't pulling away because she didn't want it.

"I never would have of thought that you would kiss like that." She said quietly, his hands came up and rested on her hips as she leaned against him and he smirked because he was still being a tease.

"Oh really? And why would that be, Miss Weasley?" He asked, sounding almost like a teacher who was questioning a student that made a foolish assumption, but there was no harshness in his tone.

She smiled at the way he could carry on; if anyone were witnessing this she thought that they would immediately check themselves into a psyche ward, she was certain that this was a side of Severus Snape that nobody but herself had seen in a very long while. It wasn't a weak side, but she thought that it was more of an unspeakable side; she knew he would never act this way with her if they were in public, if their relationship carried itself that far, this side of him was personal. The thought of only seeing him like this when they were alone didn't upset her though; it made her feel special, like she was the only one worthy of seeing this behavior. She had gathered all of this and he hadn't spoken a word to suggest it, but somehow she knew that it was the truth.

"I'm sure you can guess why I thought you'd never kiss like that," she leaned in close and whispered into his ear, "Because you're the most feared potions master of the dungeons, and medieval villains don't kiss so softly." She joked; after all she could be a tease too.

"Is that so?" He asked with fake offense.

"It's so."

"So are you suggesting that I should capture you like a stolen princess, being the medieval knave that I am?" Kind sarcasm showed through in his voice, it was very different from the sarcasm that she had heard from him in the past.

"Would you dare to do so? I am but an innocent princess after all."

"Innocent? I think not! I think you are a manipulator, one that bends men to your will." He said with a deep chuckle. "A manipulator who's vexed my mind." He growled before using the hands on her hips to pull her back towards him. Ginny closed here eyes when his face came level to hers for the second kiss but as soon as she did he suddenly stopped. She could feel him stiffen next to her and her eyes flew open.

He wasn't looking at her but at the doorway across the room that was nearly covered by darkness.

"What is it?" She asked, he didn't answer her. "Seve-" She didn't manage to utter his full name before he placed his hand gently over her mouth to keep her from speaking. Ginny listened hard, trying to clear away the audio fog of rustling trees and the slither of the tentacula tendrils but finally she heard the soft progression of footsteps which seemed to be coming from just beyond the other side of the shadowy doorway.

As soon as Ginny caught the first semblance of the sound Snape moved into action as if his suspicions had been proved. He quickly, but not unkindly, pushed her away from him and then smoothed his robes. In an instant he had crossed his arms over his chest and resumed his demeaning professor persona. Ginny didn't have any idea what to do and stood there, stricken like a deer caught in a strobe light as the handle to the door turned and the lock clicked free. Somewhere from behind the panic she realized that Snape was speaking, although she had no clue as to how long he had been doing so.

"Miss Weasley this is the second time that I have caught you out of bounds this year." He said. His voice was the trademark low, terror inflicting whisper that he was famous for. "Despite what you think you do not have the authority to gallivant around the grounds as you please during the midnight hours. Rules are in place for a reason and if you fail to recognize that reason then the staff cannot be held responsible for any injury _or_ sudden death that may occur if you continue to disobey these rules." Ginny looked up into his eyes and knew that he was clearly making this up on the spot, but noticed that his face showed no inclination that he was doing so. Behind them the door creak open and Snape quickly drew another breath and continued. "Tell me Miss. Weasley, do you really think that the creatures in the forbidden forest understand that they are not allowed to trespass onto the school grounds?" Ginny stared at him blankly. "Well? Answer me girl!"

"Professor Snape?" A voice asked from across the room. Snape turned around rather coolly and saw that it was Professor Sprout that had nearly stumbled upon them moments before.

"Good evening Pomona. I was just attending to one of the castles many miscreants." He said harshly before turning back to Ginny. "You haven't answered me yet, Weasley."

"No sir." Ginny said, trying to sound as guilty as possible.

"Severus what is going on here?" Professor Sprout asked. It was very easy to tell that she was slightly confused. Snape turned to Professor Sprout who had walked over to join them but kept a wary eye on Ginny as if he expected her to run away.

"I spotted Miss. Weasley leaving the castle during my rounds and followed her down here. Clearly she is out to meet some boyfriend after dark." He said, sounding almost malicious. Ginny bit her cheek hard to keep herself from laughing.

"Oh this is most unacceptable indeed, Miss Weasley you should know better than to be out after dark, and to come into the greenhouses of all things! There are plants in here that could have seriously harmed you if you hadn't have kept clear. It's lucky that you caught her in time Severus, she could have been bitten by the tentacula." Professor Sprout rambled off, looking thoroughly shocked.

"Fortunate indeed." Snape sneered, Ginny looked at the ground in mock shame. "It will be detention with me, Weasley, tomorrow night at six p.m." He ordered.

"Yes Sir." Ginny said glumly, keeping her face down to hide her mirth filled eyes.

"Now come, I'm taking you back to the castle." He added as if he were exceptionally cranky.

"Yes Sir." Ginny repeated before hurrying towards the doorway. Professor Sprout was already heading back to her own doorway at the other side of the room but managed to bid Snape a quick goodnight before closing it behind her. Ginny got the impression that although Sprout may not have anything against Snape, he was certainly not her preferred company.

Once they had stepped out into the cold Ginny exploded into a fit of giggles. Snape did not smile but instead looked rather sour.

"Well I'm glad you find it so funny Miss. Weasley." He snapped. Ginny stopped when he used her surname. Had she screwed it up already? "You almost got us caught you know." He sneered.

"Well you know you consciously decided to follow me." She said, not unkindly, just to remind him that she wasn't entirely at fault. "C'mon, don't let it get to you; we just know now that the greenhouses are off limits."

"No, now we know that anywhere," He paused and Ginny's heart sank, his black eyes bored into hers for a moment before he continued, "…except my office is off limits" Ginny's heart leaped, she could barely believe her good fortune. She squealed and launched herself at Snape, fastening her arms around him in a tight hug. Instantly he went rigid with awkwardness and without looking she knew that he would be scanning the castle walls, desperately hoping that there were no lights on.

"For goodness sake's Ginny, get off! Anyone could be watching." He hissed. Ginny blushed furiously and slowly let go. Snape smoothed out his robes and continued walking towards the castle, this time he walked slow enough so that she was not behind him but could comfortably walk beside him, matching his abnormally slow strides.

When they entered the castle Snape only saw her to the stairs and then stopped.

"I'm leaving you here. I'm sure you can find the dormitory on your own." He said curtly. Ginny nodded, knowing that if he walked her to the common room they were likely to be caught together, and it would be more questionable the closer to the room they were. Still, this reasoning didn't keep her from being disappointed.

"Yes I'm sure. I'll see you for detention I guess." She said with a smile. He nodded and she turned and walked away, making it halfway up the stairs before his voice made her stop.

"Good night Ginny." He said sincerely from behind her. Ginny turned, pleased that he had bid her goodnight. Taking a quick glance around to make sure no one was near she raced back down the stairs and gave his a chaste kiss.

"Goodnight Severus." She whispered in his ear before racing back up the stairs and out of sight.

* * *

Snape sat in his office late into the hours of dawn, thinking of what they had done.

He didn't regret it, but he couldn't help feeling as if she were some sort of drug in his system, why was it that he couldn't repel her? He had repelled every other woman that had tried to call themselves his throughout the years, but then again every other woman had given up much easier than she had.

He still knew that what they had done, were doing, and most likely would continue to do was highly illegal, but he didn't seem to care anymore. The knowledge was there, but it sat like a 'it'll never happen to me' thought, like the notion of being struck by lightning, or stampeded by a hoard of raging unicorns.

For now he was content to know that it wasn't over. He could stay addicted like this, the consequences didn't matter. Besides, if his inkling was correct, and anything went wrong, Dumbledore would cover for him.


	22. Grading Quizzes

**Cry Wolf**

**Chapter XXII: Grading Quizzes**

After arriving back at her dormitory much later than curfew allowed, Ginny had to quietly sneak into bed because she knew that if Anna were to wake up she would read what had happened all over Ginny's face.

In the morning she pretended to be asleep while Anna left and then breathed a sigh of relief that she had not been caught. Purposefully pretending that she wasn't awake that morning, however, left her feeling slightly guilty so while Ginny ate her breakfast of poached eggs and cold toast she wrote Anna-Rose a letter that scolded her for leaving without saying goodbye. She knew that it was a lie, but it would throw Anna off track. Even if her friend had given up guessing for the moment Ginny had no doubt that she would pick it back up at any second if she got even the slightest clue as to who it might be.

She ended up spending the day rushing to try to finish her charms and transfiguration homework so that she wouldn't have to do it over the break. She was thankful that there wasn't any potions homework besides the project (which she had now finished).

She didn't actually expect to be attending detention in the evening. Actually, she hadn't really taken the detention seriously at all, after all, Severus (because he was Severus now) had to put on a show for Sprout, didn't he?

But unfortunately she had to learn never to assume, and Severus seemed to like to make her learn the hard way. That was why by noon she found herself in her dorm, once again being pestered by his insufferable raven.

"Croak!" The raven demanded, chasing Ginny across the bed as she moved to prop herself against the headboard while carefully piling her parchment aside.

"What do you want?" She asked it irritably, wondering how on earth this bird found the time to learn to act exactly like its master.

The little hellion growled and dropped a piece of parchment in her lap before sneaking a swift jab at her fingers,

"Ouch! Fine, fine! I'll read the stupid letter!" She grouched before picking up the note.

­_Ginny,_

_Don't forget about detention._

_Out of bounds is out of bounds,_

_regardless of who you're with._

_My office, 6pm, don't be late._

_-S.S_

Ginny stared at the note for a moment in disbelief. Did he really expect her to show up for a detention? Let alone a detention that he had only given her as a ploy to distract professor Sprout from what they had really been doing. Where did he come up with the nerve to punish her when he had been her accomplice?

**_Who says it's detention anyway? Everyone's gone home. Detention makes a good excuse for the records._**

_And what are you suggesting would really be going on?_

_**Do you really have to ask me that?**_

_You have a one track mind._

_**I'm you.**_

_I don't have to believe that._

_**Suit yourself, I'm a blessing then.**_

_More like a curse._

_**Harsh.**_

Another jab at her fingers broke her away from her train of thought.

"What?" She asked the raven who ruffled his feathers and clicked his beak in irritation. Apparently he found her just as equally annoying as she found him. In a few swift hops he stole her quill from her pile of homework and tossed it into her lap.

"Okay then, I'll write him back. No need to throw a fit." She breathed with exasperation before fetching up the quill and snatching a piece of parchment.

"Dunderhead." The bird croaked, then growled as if it were insulted by the notion that it would ever stoop to the level of fit throwing.

Ginny eyed the bird warily and hurried to finish the note because it looked as if the raven were about to help it's self to the bowl of crackers on her nightstand. She scribbled a quick…

_I'll be there._

_-G.W_

And then looked up to find her self too late to stop the bird's thievery.

"Get out of those!" She snapped before snatching the bowl of crackers away from the bratty bird. "Here. Take the note that you were so determined to get out of me." She growled with annoyance before carefully holding the note out for the bird.

The Raven regarded her with disdain, then seemed to remember that last time she had withdrew her hand as soon as he took the parchment because this time he pecked her sharply on the knuckle before snatching the parchment and swooping out of the window, oblivious to the curses the Gryffindor sent after it.

Ginny grumbled to herself in a foul temper before packing her homework away. If she was going to detention tonight, she wasn't going to slave to finish this right now.

Jumping off of the bed she retrieved her broom and decided that she needed to feel the wind in her face. She had four hours until supper time, and would have to go straight to detention afterward; right now she was going to have some fun.

XXX

Dinner was much of the same old affair, people sitting around a table eating, but as it was the holidays, there was only one circular table with a few chairs. The close proximity of the group allowed Ginny to curiously pick out who had stayed behind for the holidays.

The teachers, of course, were all there except for Professor Trelawney, who chose to stay in her tower, and Firenze chose to stay in his forest enchanted room. For a moment Ginny was disappointed that Severus was not at the table but he entered the room, only just before dinner was due to start and seated him self well across from her at the other side of the table. The glance he threw her way showed no emotion and it irked her that she couldn't tell what he was thinking, whereas she knew that he would always know exactly what was on her mind. It seemed to be some sort of talent of his.

Realizing that she should probably look away Ginny turned her attention to what students had stayed behind at the school. Not to her surprise a Hufflepuff third year who always wandered the halls alone was sitting next to Professor Sprout with a book propped against the milk jug. His eyes were skimming back and forth while he read, waiting for the food to appear.

On the contrary to this lonely Hufflepuff, Ginny was surprised that the only students who had stayed behind besides herself were none other than Barry Binnetly and one of his Slytherin cronies who sat between Severus and Professor Flitwick.

Unfortunately for her they both seemed intent on finding some way to pester the only Gryffindor in the school and were scheming with whispers into each others ears while flicking smug glances her way. Ginny looked to the boys' head of house to see if the potions master had noticed what they were doing but Severus was in deep, hushed discussion with Dumbledore and paid nothing else any attention.

Feeling slightly awkward that she was the only Gryffindor present, and that she sat between Professor McGonagall, who was deeply involved with speaking to Professor Sprout, and Hagrid, who although was jovially seeking to hold conversation with her now, she knew he would quickly get enough drink into him that he would become hard to understand. So taking the moment for what it was, Ginny talked amiably with Hagrid until the food appeared and then abandoned the conversation to eat while Hagrid turned to talk to Madame Hooch who was on his other side.

The meal went mainly without much event. Much to her prediction Hagrid took the holidays as his time to enjoy the wine that was being served and continually drained his mug. Throughout the meal Ginny was struck in the face by what seemed to be nothing. She knew that the Slytherin boys were turning peas invisible with their wands and then flicking them at her. But she thought that it would be better to ignore them than to give them the sense of accomplishment that they would get if she recognized them.

Once, between the last course and dessert Severus glanced up from his plate to watch as Ginny flinched when an invisible pea struck her cheek. He smirked and glanced to the two boys but did nothing. Ginny rolled her eyes, knowing full well that he thought it was funny that she was being tormented by his house.

Ginny was slightly perplexed to see that other than these two instances, Severus had spent most of the night speaking to Dumbledore in low voices, it wasn't until dinner was over and the plates were cleared that he stood up and smoothed his robes.

"Come along then Weasley, it's nearly 6." He said curtly before striding towards the entrance to the hall. Ginny made a show of looking disappointed before getting up to follow. They were nearly to the door without question when McGonagall suddenly spoke.

"Where are you two going, dinner is barely over. Surely Miss. Weasley can't be that excited to work on her project. It is a potions project after all." Ginny noticed that McGonagall's cheeks were rosy and she might have followed Hagrid's example when it came to the amount of wine that the two had consumed.

Snape crossed his arms over his chest and fell into the part of cranky professor.

"Unfortunately no, Miss. Weasley decided to forego those studies by sneaking out after curfew last night. She will be serving detention as consequence for her actions." He snapped, seeming annoyed that McGonagall would question his actions.

"Really Severus, surely you can't expect the girl to serve detention over the holidays?" McGonagall asked, seemingly sympathetic.

"Rules are in place for a reason and do not turn off because the holidays are here. Miss. Weasley broke the rules and will pay the consequences. It is the second time she has been out of bounds this year and is the only way to teach her that rules are to be followed." He continued, undaunted that McGonagall held a higher rank than him among the staff. McGonagall, however, seemed unperturbed, as if she were used to him behaving in this manner.

"Severus don't you ever feel that it is perhaps a little cruel to notice every little detail. Some things can be overlooked in light of the season." She continued to argue.

"Minerva, I did not make the decision to punish the girl, she did when she decided to go for a walk on the school grounds after curfew. I am merely doing my job, without falter." He quipped back at her; McGonagall had opened her mouth again to respond when Dumbledore cut in.

"Severus is quite right Minerva, Ginny made this decision herself, if she chooses to spend her time locked in the dungeons with Severus than she will continue to break school rules. If not, she will steer clear of further detentions by abiding by them. Severus must do his job." He said lightly, flashing a glance to Ginny that revealed wildly twinkling eyes. Ginny once again felt the sinking feeling that Dumbledore somehow knew what was going on between them.

"Thank youHeadmaster." Severus said hurriedly before turning and exiting the hall through the long held open door. Ginny followed and they made their way towards the dungeon. Severus looked irritated and walked at a quick pace, seemingly lost in his own thought.

"What are you thinking?" Ginny asked as she hurried to keep up with him.

"Not outside my office Miss. Weasley." He snapped, warning her of what he had set as their only rule. Ginny rolled her eyes, not seeing how anyone would catch them at simple conversation, especially during the time when the castle held the least populace. Let alone when they were currently delving into the dungeons, but she quickly felt humbled when they met Filch, mopping the floors, around the next corner.

Severus threw her a meaningful look and then continued walking.

"Good evening Professor." Filch greeted to possibly the professor he got along with the best, but only because they both loathed student misbehavior and relished in punishing it.

"Argus." Severus responded, before sweeping by. Filch stared after Ginny and smirked at the thought of her being punished by the potions master. Ginny tried to hide her return smirk. Little did Filch know that this was most likely a visit and nothing else.

A short distance down the hall from Filch they finally arrived at Snape's office. Severus opened the door and marched in, heading straight to his desk where he sat in his wooden chair and began to root through his drawers.

Ginny followed him in, closing the door behind her and took what used to be her tutoring seat across from him.

"What are you looking for?" She asked curiously.

"Something that I have to give you." He answered absentmindedly as he continued to search. Ginny furrowed her brow in confusion. Had he gotten her something? Surely he hadn't. She didn't expect a Christmas present this early in their… relationship, (For lack of a better word that would describe whatever they had.) and it wasn't even Christmas yet anyway.

"You got me something?" She asked, somewhere between interested and ready to decline whatever it was.

"Yes." He replied, pulling a bundle of papers from his drawer before he leaned across the desk and set them down in front of her. "These are first year quizzes, the answer key is the first page, mark them all before you leave." He instructed. Ginny gaped at him in shock.

"You actually expect me to serve a detention?" She asked in disbelief. "How can you tell me to do this when you were my accomplice?" She half shouted, not realizing that she sounded very much like her mother.

"Miss. Weasley, I'm telling you to do this as your teacher!" He snapped irritably. "Now get to work, I do not want to stay up all night waiting for you to finish." He barked before pulling his own pile of essays toward him and beginning to harass them with his quill that was always loaded with red ink. Ginny made a noise of disgusted anger before setting the answer key beside the quizzes and beginning to correct the work. She blatantly refused to look at Snape, she would not give him the satisfaction of her sneaking glances his way when he was treating her like a… a… a STUDENT! Little did she know that Snape would not have noticed if she had have sneaked a glance, because he was engrossed in his task of marking sixth year essays.

So the time passed, each ignoring the other, until after Ginny had finished correcting her seventh quiz, there was a knock on the door.

"Enter." Snape said with boredom as he set his quill aside. Ginny briefly glimpsed up to see the door creak open and the silvery bearded figure of Dumbledore step into the office and close the door behind him before she went back to her work.

"Good evening Miss Weasley, Good Evening Severus." Dumbledore greeted them both, sounding rather less cheery than his normal self. Ginny assumed that he must have eaten a little too much food at dinner.

"Good evening Headmaster." Severus replied, standing up from his desk. "I have what you asked for in my chambers." He said before Dumbledore nodded and the two men disappeared through the door on the far side of the room. Ginny scoffed after they had left, still angry at the way Severus was ignoring her and continued to mark her quizzes.

It seemed like ages before the two men returned. The pile of quizzes had been marked, and then out of boredom, double checked. Ginny had then stole a piece of parchment from Snape's desk and started to doodle on it while she waited, drawing pictures of brooms and writing Severus' name in a code she had made up as a child so that no one could read it. You needed that sort of thing when you lived with Fred and George.

Finally the door re-opened and Severus and Dumbledore re-emerged. Ginny quickly pulled the quizzes back towards her, hiding her doodle parchment, and pretended that she wasn't finished with them. Secretly she watched the two and noticed that there was an obvious bulge in Dumbledore's pocket which she concluded must have been whatever Severus had given him.

"Very well Severus, all is in the order that it should seem to be. I wish you luck before I go. I will see you when you return." Dumbledore said, making no effort to keep his voice down. Severus' eyes flicked to Ginny and back because she was watching them intently before he made his way back to his desk.

"Good evening Headmaster. I will see you when I have finished with the task." He replied, while picking up his quill from where he had left it and returning to his essays.

"Good Evening Miss. Weasley." Dumbledore bid over his shoulder, Ginny noted that the twinkle had returned to his eyes before he left them both for the hallway and closed the door behind him.

Severus sighed from across the desk and put the essays away.

"You can stop marking those now." He said simply, his voice no longer the 'I-am-the-almighty-professor' tone it had been before.

"But this is my punishment." She argued, still sounding a little peeved about before.

"No, it was a distraction for Dumbledore. Despite how much I don't think its working." He explained before leaning across the desk and taking the quizzes from her. He quickly flicked through them and raised an eyebrow. "Why are you still going through these when you have them all finished?" He asked. Ginny ignored the question.

"What do you mean a _distraction for Dumbledore?_ He doesn't know does he?" She asked, sounding slightly fearful.

"As far as I can tell by the way he acts, it would be no, but by the way he talks it is usually yes. It's impossible to tell with Dumbledore really. We won't know for sure until he chooses to tell us." He said while tucking the quizzes back into his drawer.

Ginny sighed both with relief and confusion. They'd only officially had something between them since yesterday and already someone was suspicious.

"Are you worried he'll find out?" She asked. Severus shook his head, he now had his feet on the desk, his elbows on the arms of his chair and his fingers rested in a steeple at his chin while he watched her. Ginny took in this unfamiliar sight of him sitting casually before she felt scrutinized by his unfaltering gaze.

"What is it?" She asked. He smirked before lowering his arms to rest on his lap.

"Ginny there's something that you need to understand before anything else happens." He said seriously. Ginny felt a wave of mild panic wash through her. Was he changing his mind again?

"What is it?" She asked, embarrassed at the waver in her voice. His smirk grew a little wider, as if he were amused.

"You should know that I cannot initiate anything with you of any kind at any time." He said, very bluntly. Ginny felt as if her ability to think had been turned off. He had said it, he'd changed his mind, and he didn't want to risk it with her.

"So that's it then?" She asked. His brow furrowed as if he were confused. "No don't give me that look!" She kept going, "If you don't want me then just say so and I'll leave." She became even more surprised when he tilted his head back and laughed a deep throaty laugh that was only just above a chuckle.

_**Now he's laughing at us? Even if it is an unexpectedly sexy laugh, it's not allowed.**_

_Who cares if he's laughing, I'm confused, and what exactly is he laughing about?_

_**He's gone nutters, that's what he's laughing about.**_

_No he hasn't!_

_**Well something's got to him. You probably drove him crazy, never leaving him alone, always flirting with him at every chance.**_

_Shut up! You're the one that told me to do those things. No don't say anything else!_

"No Ginny, that's not what I meant." He interrupted her thoughts, "Listen carefully; _I_ cannot initiate anything with _you,_ in any place at any time, etc." He finished and then watched her closely, as if waiting for her to put the pieces together.

Ginny stared blankly for a moment as if he really had gone insane and then it clicked into place. He couldn't make a move on her because of the laws, but there wasn't anything in the laws that said she couldn't make a move on him. He smirked as he saw it all make sense behind her eyes.

"Do you understand now?" He asked. Ginny frowned, faking annoyance.

"I'm pretty sure, but you know you could have just told me instead of getting me angry like that." He chuckled again

"I can't help it, tormenting people is what I'm best at." He said, almost innocently but Ginny saw the glint in his eyes.

"Oh really, well maybe I should take a page out of your book then. If you can't start anything, like you said, perhaps I won't start anything either." She raised a brow questioningly in perfect imitation of him.

"Is that so? And how exactly would that work to torment me?" He asked.

"Well for one thing there would be no more kissing in the greenhouse." She said and then remembered something from last night. "Hey wait a minute; you were going to kiss me last night. You were only a few inches away from breaking the law actually, why the sudden change of heart?" She teased, getting up from her chair and moving to sit on a clear space of his desk facing him.

"Well that was different. Last night my vision was clouded by a wanton vixen. I can't be held responsible for what I almost did in clouded judgment." He met her teasing with his own. Ginny scoffed.

"Oh really, wanton am I? Well I think I'll be going to bed now. Goodnight." She said casually and made to move towards the door.

"If you leave now you won't see me again till after Christmas." He said, just as casually. Ginny froze, cursing the fact that he had a stronger will than her. Slowly she took her place, returning to her seat on his desk. He raised an eyebrow and she smirked because he thought he was so clever.

"So, if I leave now, why wouldn't I see you for the rest of break?" she asked casually. "Or maybe you were just going to hide anyway."

"No I'm not going to hide. There's something else that's going to keep me away." He said seriously, Ginny looked at him curiously, quite aware that he wasn't joking anymore.

"What do you mean? Are you really going away?" She asked. He nodded with sincerity. "Where are you going?"

"I can't tell you." He said quietly.

"Why not?" She demanded.

"Ginny, it's on Dumbledore's orders."

"You mean this is a mission for the order?" She asked quietly, not sure what to think but getting the overwhelming feeling that she should be worried. He nodded again but said nothing. Ginny opened her mouth to ask another question but he cut her off.

"That's all I can tell you Ginny." He said sternly. Ginny recognized that the subject was clearly closed. Getting up she went to him and met his lips with hers. After she had initiated it he quickly responded and took control until his tongue had gained entrance to her mouth and danced with hers. Slowly she moved so that she was straddling his lap and their kiss deepened. She was slightly aware that his hands were roaming her sides but she was more focused on moving her hands to the buttons on his robes. Slowly she undid the first one and then the second, continuing down the line until he realized what she was doing and pulled away.

"What are you doing Ginny?" He asked, his breathing slightly heavy.

"I'm initiating it." She answered, not fooled by what she assumed was his act of procrastination. He wanted it as much as she did right now, she could feel his stiffness where she sat on him.

"No." he said quickly and moved in the chair so that she had to get off of him or fall off. Slowly she stood and, feeling slightly hurt and confused as to why he wouldn't want what she had offered she sat back on the desk and watched as he did his buttons back up. He looked up to catch her expression and then sighed.

"Don't be hurt." He said simply.

"How could you expect that?" She asked quickly. "How would you feel if someone had denied you?"

"Believe me it's not that hard to imagine." He said, sneering at some memory that she couldn't see. After a moment he came back to the present and turned his attention back to her. "It's not you, it's me." He said as if this were explanation and then seemed to realize what he had suggested. "No wait!" He said quickly and Ginny giggled because for the first time that she'd ever known him he seemed embarrassed. "What I mean to say," He continued, regaining his composure, "Is that you, are underage, and while I may be willing to risk this, I will not risk that until you are of age."

"But you're going on a mission for the order; I know that you're a spy against Voldemort, what if I never see you again?" She asked, partially intent to continue what had just been stopped. He shook his head.

"It's not a dangerous mission, I'll be back before you realize I'm gone… and in one piece." He said as if to reassure her. Ginny smiled.

"So then, when I'm of age, if I start this again, it won't be stopped?" She asked devilishly.

"When you're of age I will most likely start it, and never stop." He smirked just as evilly.

"How about on my birthday?" She asked, drawing him into another kiss.

"Not a day before." He mumbled against her lips before standing up. She broke away as he stood.

"Now, I'm telling you as your teacher that I will not be harassed by McGonagall tomorrow morning for keeping you here any later, so head back to your dormitory."

"Yes, sir sexy." She said and placed a kiss on his cheek before heading to the door.

"Ginny." He called as she turned the knob.

"Yes?" She asked.

"Don't call me, sir sexy, ever again." He said, looking quite disgusted. She laughed and then closed the door behind her.

XXX

Snape watched the young Gryffindor leave his office and wondered for the millionth time that day what he had gotten himself into, and why exactly he didn't wish to be out of it.

But at least with him leaving there was no risk of them being caught together over the break, and since he had assured her that it wasn't a dangerous mission she wouldn't be worried.

He, however, would be concerned because when it came to the safety of the mission, when it really, really came down to it, he had lied.

**XXX**

A/n: NEW CHAPTER!!! WOOT!! I think this is the record breaker for length, but I'm too lazy to find out. Enjoy, please tell me what you think, I'm very unsure about this chapter.


	23. Reoccuring Dream

**Cry Wolf**

**Chapter XXIII: Re-ocurring Dream**

Boring.

There was no other word for it. Christmas break was boring. Ron wasn't there, Hermione wasn't there, Harry wasn't there, Anna-Rose wasn't there, and Severus, as well, wasn't there.

And on top of all this, Ginny had experienced a repeat of her dream, which only worked to confuse her. She could remember it clearly…

_She had been in one of the long corridors of the dungeons, it was dark and cold, and not knowing where she was she had rushed towards what way she thought was out. As she rounded a corner she had spotted someone round the corner in front of her. Hopeful that they could show her the way out she ran after them. Rounding the next corner she caught just a glimpse of the person before they two broke into a run and rounded the corner in front of her, but she had recognized them._

"_Harry!" She had shouted before breaking into a full out run and trailing after him, rounding the corner he was brought into sight, he was no longer running but facing her. She ran towards him but he never came any closer. "Harry! Help me!" She had pleaded but Harry had shaken his head with closed eyes._

"_No Ginny, No." He had said, "No, no, no, no, no…" over and over, "No, no, no…" Had echoed off the walls and smothered her ears until she thought that she would cry with desperation._

"_Harry please!" She pleaded._

"_No Ginny." Harry repeated. "No, no, no." echo, echo, echo… Ginny ran towards him with her arms outstretched but Harry fell through a hole in the floor and in an instant Snape had shot out of the same hole and drawn her into his arms, comforting her by stroking her hair._

"_Shhh…_ _He won't come back for you." He had murmured to her, and she hadn't cared but had wrapped her arms around him and settled into his embrace. _

_But what had the dream meant?_ Ginny wondered. _Was she still pining over Harry? Or did it mean that she should forget about Harry completely and focus on Severus? Or, worst of all, could it possibly mean that Harry was going to die?_ This jumble of thoughts made her head spin and she couldn't wrap any sense into them so she pushed it away, and didn't think about it.

Christmas day was the usual affair, minus the chattering family and friends. She woke up to her usual pile of presents and, as always, slipped her Weasley sweater on first thing. She also received _a_ box of new socks from her mom and dad, a large box of chocolates from Ron, with only a few of the precious pieces missing. Fred and George sent her some of their joke shop products, and a 'friend' for Arnold the pygmy puff, whom Ginny decided to name puff Amber. Charlie gave her a Dragon tooth necklace, he must've forgotten that he'd given her one before but that was okay because it had been stolen, and Bill had sent her a pair of nice flannel pajamas that she knew her mother had helped him pick out. There was no way Bill knew what size she was. Percy sent her nothing, but she hadn't expected anything anyway, and Hermione had sent her a book about pygmy puffs, which actually looked mildly interesting. Harry had sent her nothing.

All together it was a _good_ haul, all she needed to complete the Christmas day routine was a snowball fight, it was too bad that no one her own age was around, but she knew that Hagrid was always up for a challenge so she quickly donned her warmest winter clothes and raced out of the castle to find him.

XXX

New Year's passed with less enthusiasm than Christmas had. Hagrid was busy in the grounds, trying to keep whatever creature he had from burning down his house. She hadn't been able to figure out what it was that he had, but apparently it could breathe fire, and since he was very busy with that, it meant that he wouldn't be having any more snowball fights with her any time soon.

The rest of the students were due to return to the school in two days time and Ginny was beginning to get anxious for some company. Believe it or not she missed the chatter of Anna-Rose, she even sort of missed her constant attempts at guessing who her 'boyfriend' was, but that was a bit of a stretch.

Even more than her friends she was beginning to wonder when Severus would come back. He had told her that she wouldn't see him until after Christmas, but when exactly would that be? If you wanted to get technical even Christmas Eve was after Christmas. Would he be back before the school term began again? Surely he would, it was likely that she would waltz into potions and see him sitting on his desk. A glint in his eye that clearly said _'I-avoided-you-on-purpose,-just-to-bug-you,-ha,-ha,-ha.'_

For now, all she could do was wait and try to finish the homework that she had meant to do, but had still put off until last minute.

XXX

The students arrived back at the school Sunday evening, tired from staying up late on every free night. It seemed that none of them had bothered to go to bed early before taking the train back to Hogwarts. Now that they were back with their friends and happily chatting about their breaks, it was even less likely that they would get any sleep before classes resumed the next day. Luckily for everyone in sixth year potions, they did not have Snape until Tuesday.

'_He certainly wouldn't accept the excuse of "I'm tired" from his students. He might let it slide with the Slytherins, but definitely not the Gryffindors… of Hufflepuffs… or Ravenclaws.'_

'_**He might let it slide with you though.'**_

'_Yea and I'm sure that would do wonders for covering up our situation. Could you imagine?' _

'_**Sure I can, it would be something like this, "All of you sleepy dunderheads have detention! Except for you Miss. Weasley, come with me to the storeroom so we can make out."**_

'_Yea I'm sure that would happen.'_

"Are you listening to me Ginny?"

"Yes." Ginny lied as Anna-Rose looked at her expectantly.

"Why are you so dreamy looking all of the time anyway?" Anna asked, rather annoyingly Ginny thought, especially since she already knew the answer.

"No reason." Ginny said wistfully. Anna sighed.

"What has lover boy done this time?" She asked.

"Nothing."

"Yea. Sure. You're still not going to tell me are you?" She asked.

"Nope." Ginny concluded with a giggle. "You'll have to figure it out for yourself." Anna looked at her, her eyes cunning with calculation.

"Oh I will you redheaded sprat, you may have picked a doozy to throw me off track but don't think I won't figure it out." She said confidently. Ginny made a show of yawning widely.

"_Yeah_, whatever you say, Captain Detecto. I'm going to bed. Night."

"Night." Anna said before drifting across the common room to sit with Tia. Ginny trudged up the stairs to her dormitory, glad that her friends were back, but not that enthusiastic that classes would be resuming.

XXX

Monday morning brought much more excitement than any sixth or seventh year could have expected. It seemed that McGonagall had decided the lack of new animagus in the world was appalling and was planning to start a class.

She had placed notice on the Gryffindor common room board that invited any students in their sixth or seventh year to participate in a class that would continue on a permanent basis every Wednesday night from six to eight. It also read that no students should take the course lightly as it took real dedication to become an animagus and it was not something to be taken lightly. Ginny wondered if Severus would be helping McGonagall with the classes but instantly knew that even if he wasn't she wanted to attend. As an animagus she could sneak out whenever she wanted! She and Severus could even go on midnight strolls without being interrupted by sprout.

'_**Midnight strolls? You're definitely turning into a hopeless romantic.'**_

'_So?'_

'_**So the point is that Severus is definitely not.'**_

'_So? What's your point?'_

'_**My point is that he's not just going to go for a stroll whenever you want him to.'**_

'_Oh well, I'm sure I can persuade him… eventually.'_

'_**Pffft.'**_

"Have you read this Ginny?" Anna asked, bouncing with excitement.

"_Yeah_, isn't it great?"

"Great? It's the most exciting thing that's happened all year! I can't wait, I've always wanted to be an animagus, ever since McGonagall transformed in our class as first years!" She babbled. Ginny nodded her agreement as the two made their way out of the portrait hole to head for breakfast.

XXX

By the time classes were over for the day McGonagall's lessons were the talk of the school and Ginny didn't know how the professor planned to teach all of the students that she had heard personally swearing to attend.

She had still not caught site of Severus, but she didn't have potions until tomorrow. It was very likely that he was here anyway, and she had just not seen him yet. Besides, it would be too awkward to ask the fourth years if Snape had taught them today. Not only would she look like a complete moron, but then they would want to know why she was asking. It was better just to avoid the whole situation.

Anna-Rose was still babbling on about becoming an animagus. She and a few other sixth and seventh years had formed a sort of circle and were taking it in turns to try to guess what each other's forms would be while others boasted about what animal they'd like to be. Ginny wondered if they knew that the choice of animal was completely beyond your control. You got the form that suited you best, and Rita Skeeter was a perfect example.

The notion of the animal form fitting the person got her to thinking, how did Severus' form fit him? She wouldn't of pegged him as a wolf, the rest of the school probably would've guessed bat, but what exactly made him wolf like?

Well, he certainly was snappy, and he had the bad temper of an angry canine. But he was also cunning and manipulative… he proved those qualities with his spying work. But on the other hand he was withdrawn and mysterious, misunderstood like most of the wolf population was, all pegged as evil creatures that ate children and raided farms. Wolf did fit him after all, what would fit her?

Shaking her head she refused to let herself join the ranks of the 'formers' as she called them. She wasn't going to sit around all night and wonder what form she would take, if she ever made it through the classes.

Yawning wide, she closed her book and headed off to bed.

XXX

Tuesday morning was almost as chatter-filled as Monday morning. Students were still just as excited about McGonagall's lessons, and perhaps even more so since it was going to be the next day that the lessons would begin. Ginny, although still excited about the classes, was really bored of all the chatter. It was pointless chatter, and she never saw the need for pointless chatter.

Secretly, she was more excited for potions class, it would be the first time that she'd seen Severus since before Christmas, and it was only more annoying that roughly 30 other students would be there so she would have to continue pretending to hate him. Oh well, maybe she could score a detention.

'_**If you don't hurry up you won't have to try too hard, shove that food in your mouth you're going to be late!'**_

'_So? If I'm late I won't have to make anything explode.'_

'_**You're right, let's stick with being late, we don't want to accidentally kill Barry Binnetly, you know, for legal reasons. No one would actually miss him though.'**_

'_That's a horrible thing to say!'_

'_**Honest truth, but forget it, you're late enough, get to class!'**_

Jumping up Ginny grabbed her bag and hurried off towards the dungeons, only just managing not to topple down the stairs in her own haste. Finally arriving at the potions classroom she let herself into the room, fully prepared for Severus' gall but instead she locked eyes with Albus Dumbledore, who was calmly sitting at the front of the class.

"Ah, Miss. Weasley, a rather unwise decision to be late, now you have forced my hand into taking five points from Gryffindor, something I don't often like to do. Please take your seat, I have not started with the lesson yet, so theoretically you're just on time." Albus said with a genuine smile as Ginny stared at him in confusion.

"Where is Professor Snape?" She managed to sputter through her shock. _Had he not returned from his mission yet? Was he hurt?_ Dumbledore's eyes twinkled. _How had she not noticed how annoying that was before?_

"Professor Snape is taking a leave of absence for his personal affairs, he will be back shortly. Please take a seat so we may begin." He repeated. Breaking out of her trance Ginny quietly went to her seat and took out her book. Dumbledore pointed his wand at the board and instructions scrawled themselves onto it's surface.

"I'm afraid I was never the best at potions, although I did have one of the higher marks it was always lower then the rest of my courses. Professor Snape did manage to beat my grades in this course, if my memory serves me he was the best potions student we'd seen since someone named Frillfralldo Instighslent who was before my time. But that is beside the point, today's lesson is on the board, follow the directions carefully and you should all be fine." He said with an airy insightfulness that only Dumbledore could achieve.

Ginny glanced at the instructions, only reading them with half her mind. _Where was Severus? _Surely whatever his mission was couldn't have taken this long to complete? It had been well over a week and a half, where had he been all this time?

Copying down the instructions and digging to find her ingredients Ginny started work on her assignment but the niggling in the back of her mind kept distracting her, demanding her to wonder where Severus was, and more important than that, was her hurt, or was he even alive?

XXX

On Wednesday the school was absolutely crazy, nearly every sixth and seventh year was bursting at the seams with excitement for McGonagall's lessons. The day seemed to pass in a haze, and at some points Ginny even forgot that Severus was still not back as she thought of the lessons that would be starting that night. Of course, this only led her to wondering if Severus would have been helping with the lessons, so she ended up worrying about him all over again.

Around noon it seemed as if a collective groan escaped from the castle. During lunch McGonagall had addressed the school and told them that until further notice animagus lessons would be postponed on the account of understaffing. Apparently at least two teachers had to be present at any given extra curricular activity and until McGonagall's help returned the lessons would not begin. This answered Ginny's question of whether or not Severus was helping with the event, but it didn't calm her nerves about his absence.

Other students besides her also figured out that McGonagall's helper had to be Snape, later in the day it seemed to her that 30 of the students that had planned on attending dropped out, right then and there. They said that they wanted to be animagus, but they didn't want it badly enough to willingly spend more time near Snape.

Thursday, was much like Tuesday, Ginny spent another potions class being taught by Dumbledore, and fretting over where Severus could possibly be.

Anna-Rose nagged her all day about quiddich until Ginny finally agreed to practice with her. After dinner they flew around the pitch, tossing the quaffle to each other and diving just for the joy of it.

"Ginny!" Anna screamed from the ground. Ginny turned her broom around and noticed that Anna hadn't been flying for what looked like a while now. Making a quick dive she landed by her friend and climbed off her broom. "Bout time! What is up with you today?" Anna asked.

"What do you mean?" Ginny answered with a question while she put the quaffle back in the ball case.

"You've been out there all day, and I mean way out there! If you get any more lost in your thoughts you'll be saying them out loud for everyone to hear. What's wrong?" she asked, genuinely concerned. Ginny shrugged and shook it off.

"You know, I've just been having one of those weeks. Everything is just… well, blah-ish, you know what I mean?" She tried to explain.

"I guess so." Anna said slowly. "C'mon. let's go back to the castle, I think it's going to start snowing." She said, glaring at the skies. Ginny nodded her agreement and swung her broom over her shoulder. "Ginny?" Anna said tentatively after a moment's silence.

"Mmmm."

"Promise me you'll tell me if something is seriously wrong, okay?" She asked.

"I promise." Ginny said, wishing she could tell Anna, but knowing that unless it was life or death, she couldn't.

XXX

Anna was right about _the_ snow, it had been storming since nightfall the previous day and by Friday evening Ginny was tired and cranky. The chatter in the common room was on the verge of making her shout so she clambered from her seat and angrily slammed the portrait behind her as she left for the great hall.

She ate her meal moodily, stabbing the potatoes and perhaps slicing the meat with too much determination. She gave the head table one furtive glance to remind herself that Severus was still not back before she helped herself to ice cream covered pumpkin pie.

It seemed that all would remain as it had for the entire week as she ate the ice cream off her spoon. She was about ready to give up for the day and head back to her dorm to sleep while the snow blew when the doors to the great hall suddenly burst open. Everyone in the hall turned to see who it was in the doorway but by the time they had the figure had begun to walk to walk between the house tables, their long stride quickly eating up the floor. Ginny swiveled in her seat and froze as she spotted him.

His robes were torn near the hems and on the sleeves, his hair was knotted from the wind but worst of all was his face, crimson blood originating from somewhere in his scalp was tailing down his forehead, into his eyes and over the rest of his face, dripping slowly from his nose and chin.

Ginny watched him as he walked by, his eyes catching hers for the briefest of moments before he continued on.

Dumbledore had risen from his chair now and was striding from the head table to meet the potions professor in the middle of the room. When they came together Severus instantly changed his course and the two hurried towards the doors of the great hall, Severus whispering frantically, trying to move his lips as little as possible.

Ginny's mouth was open in shock. Hadn't he said that this mission wouldn't be dangerous? If so, why had he come back blood stained and in tattered clothes? Her eyes were still tracking him and she was ready to jump from her seat, follow him and demand explanations but as he passed her place again he shot her a look that clearly said '_I-know-what-you're-thinking-do-not move.'_

Somewhere she registered that Dumbledore had briefly glanced her way as well but before she had the sense to try to decipher the meaning of his glance the two were out of the hall, the doors were closed behind them and the space around her had erupted into gossiping voices.

XXX

There it is, all shiny and new! Hope you enjoy.


	24. The First Night

**Cry Wolf**

**Chapter XXIV: The First Night.**

Albus led Severus into the hallway, making sure to close the door to the Great hall behind him so that the session of whispers and speculation among the students could begin.

"Come along then Severus, Madame Pomfery will need to see to that cut." Albus said as he began mounting the stairs. Severus hurried after him.

"Is it safe to discuss this matter in Poppy's presence?" He asked as he joined the headmaster on the stairs, blinking the red droplets out of his vision.

"Yes, she knows all about our many missions for the order as well as a general idea of what each order member is up to whenever they are assigned to a task. It is necessary that she be informed so that she can expect what to treat when someone returns." Dumbledore paused and eyed a portrait of an ancient head of Slytherin suspiciously. The portrait was doing his best to look as if he wasn't listening but every now and then his eyes would dart to them. Frowning, Dumbledore looked away from the portrait and met eyes with Snape, a moment later the Potions' Professor could feel the slight nudging at his occluded mind. Opening his barriers just enough to let the soft, whisper-like thoughts be conveyed, he found that the picture-ideas Dumbledore was sending showed portraits darting out of their frames and whisking away to converse with the Dark Lord. Loosely translated, he assumed that Dumbledore was trying to say _"I fear the portraits may have turned against us, we cannot discuss this any farther until we reach the hospital wing."_

Severus nodded while studying the portrait of the ancient Slytherin with interest. Had some of the paintings in the castle gone into league with the Dark Lord? Would the old Slytherin jump out of his frame once they were gone and head off to some secret location exactly like Phineas Nigellus did for the order? Honestly it wouldn't surprise him in the least; if the ministry had invoked the same methods to communicate with the muggle Prime Minister then surely the Dark Lord would have thought of it by now.

Finally after many staircases of silence the two wizards arrived at the hospital wing and entered into its spacious chamber in search of Madame Pomfery.

"Poppy? Are you here?" Albus called across the room, Severus watched as the light in Poppy's office flicked to a brighter setting and the door lurched open.

"Oh for Merlin's sakes, what in the devil has happened to you?" The matron instantly questioned as she marched out of her office and towards them, stopping halfway to pull the curtains back at a nearby bed. "In here then, hurry now, I don't want you to bleed all over the floor."

Severus rolled his eyes and headed for the hospital bed, quite annoyed by the fact that he was about to be chastised like a child for obtaining such an injury.

"Really Albus, I understand the necessity for all of this order business, but there is far too much injury involved! First you had to have your ear reattached, then Minerva had that nasty burn and now Severus has nearly had his skull cracked open." She shook her head while pulling out her wand and fetching what looked like a jar of brackish swamp water from a nearby shelf. "Sit." She added to Snape while pointing to the edge of the mattress.

Severus frowned but reluctantly sat on the bed.

"You know Poppy; I am not a child that can be scolded for scraping my knee." He drawled, trying to express some of his annoyance.

"You're quite right Severus, which is why I shouldn't have to heal you; you're much older than a child." She said, shooting him an ill-tempered look.

"Now Poppy, let's not start a fight, Severus is in no condition and I need him to tell me what he's discovered." Albus interjected, cutting the squabble off before it could really begin. Poppy clucked her tongue but didn't say anything else; instead she began parting Snape's hair so that she could better access the cut in his scalp.

"Honestly, I don't know why you don't cut off this hair; it must be such a bother, especially since every bit of potion vapor you're near sticks right to it. It wouldn't be nearly as greasy if it were short." She commented rather nonchalantly. Severus ignored her and tried to focus on Albus, who was conjuring a chair for himself, instead of how his head stung when Pomfery picked at the hair surrounding the gash.

Once the headmaster had seated himself, crossing one leg over the other and resting his hands on his knee, he looked at his injured professor with all seriousness. Severus noticed for the first time that all the portraits in the hospital wing had been removed.

"Did you find Burnolt?" Albus asked over his half moon spectacles.

"Yes, I found him. We were somewhat correct in out suspicions." He informed the elder wizard.

"How did you get this wound Severus?" Poppy interjected, "I'll need to know if I'm going to heal it correctly."

"It's from a griffin, the stupid creature dove at me when I was leaving Burnolt's hideout." He told the matron.

"Good, then we can heal it by the usual standards. Griffin talons don't hold any magical powers in relation to the wounds they create." After saying this Severus heard her open the jar of swamp looking stuff and a moment later felt her dobbing it into his scalp. He was waiting to feel the inevitable coldness of the stuff but the substance was strangely warm and smelt of lemons, quite different than what he would have expected.

"And where was Burnolt hiding?" Albus asked, smiling slightly at the scene of Snape being doctored up by school nurse, and having large amounts of lemon swamp goop being slathered onto his head.

"Like you asked me to do before, I found where he was hiding by watching Mr. Binnetly in class, Barry knew where his father was and it wasn't hard to take the information from him, especially when he thinks of it so often. Burnolt was hiding in a shack in the charmed forest behind Lucius Malfoy's estate. He's been waiting there for the Dark Lord's instructions since the dementor's let him go."

"I see." Albus paused to stroke his beard as his sharp mind worked over the new information. "What did he have to say when he saw you?"

Severus grimaced slightly as Madame Pomfery gave his head one last vigorous rub before putting the lid back on the jar. She then tapped her wand on his head and he felt the skin rapidly grow together.

"What was that slop for if you could just do that?" He asked, running his fingertips over the small bald spot that the scar tissue had created.

"That_ ointment_ is made from coated willow's roots; it will make your hair grow back by morning to the same length as the rest of it." She explained before exiting the curtained area and heading back to her office.

"That's fortunate for you; I don't think your students would respond quite the same to your presence if you showed up to class with a bald spot." Albus chuckled. "But back to more pressing matters, what did Burnolt tell you?" Snape dredged up the memory of his encounter with the elder Binnetly so that he could recall it for Dumbledore.

"At first he thought that I was bringing him orders. When I arrived he started groveling, begging for the commands that his lord and master had sent him." Here Severus' lip curled as he remembered the man's pathetic display. "Once I told him that I wasn't there on the Dark Lord's orders he became much less anxious to see me."

"Was he curious about your presence once he knew that you weren't bringing orders from Voldemort?" Albus asked. Severus made a face that seemed to mean not overly.

"To tell the truth he didn't seem to genuinely care. He asked me why I was there and I told him that I wanted to discuss his son with him but he still did not convey much interest."

"He didn't display the slightest interest in his son's life or well being?" Dumbledore asked with his eyebrows furrowed in disbelief. Snape shook his head.

"He told me that the only thing that made him proud of his son was that he had carried on the family tradition and joined the cause." Severus recited, Dumbledore took off his glasses and cleaned them on his robes.

"It would seem then, that our worst suspicions have come true and Barry has taken the dark mark like his father did years before him." The headmaster's mood was suddenly somber. "I assume this is when you left?"

"Yes." Severus answered. "Burnolt told me that he was expecting Lucius any minute, he wasn't supposed to have anyone in the house so he told me I had to leave that very minute. The damned griffin dove at me in the woods; apparently Burnolt didn't feel the need to warn me about his _'flying guard dog.'_"

"Do you think that Burnolt will tell Lucius that you were in the house? Lucius might become suspicious."

"Lucius is already suspicious, the Dark Lord favors me more than him and he resents it, any chance to blacken my name would be Christmas to him. But Burnolt won't tell, I could tell from the front of his mind, he's too frightened of Lucius."

"That is good news." Albus said as he stood from his chair and waved it into nonexistence with a sweep of his wand. "Now I will let you return to your rooms, I must come up with a suitable fabrication to tell the children that will calm their _interest _over your stunning entrance."

Snape scowled at the thought of the school gossiping over him but said nothing.

"Good evening Severus, best of luck returning to your classes and assisting Minerva."

"Good evening Headmaster." Severus replied before exiting the hospital wing and setting a course for his chambers. Merlin knew he could use some sleep after all of this nonsense. _I will most definitely be glad when the war is over with and my life will be as simple as teaching ignorant brats, _he thought as he descended the staircase to the main level. Perhaps he'd move out of Spinner's End and buy a house for him and Ginny in secluded rural Scotland. Al least there none of the scum that would escape Azkaban for a second time would ever find them.

Freezing in his tracks Severus wondered where that thought had come from. Since when had he ever considered a life with Ginny? Sure he had admitted to a relationship with the witch, if you could call it that. It was simply sneaking around at night more than anything. Was the young witch only using him to seek thrills, so that she'd have interesting stories to tell her friends when she was old and life got boring? Self doubt was creeping up on him again, after all, why would someone of her age want to live with him? No, he definitely shouldn't be thinking about Ginny and houses in rural Scotland. What they had now was enough for him to handle. The stress of covering his tracks from Dumbledore to the Dark Lord, and from Ginny to Dumbledore was becoming enough to turn his hair grey. What he needed now was to retreat to his rooms, change out of these robes and go to sleep. If Ginny was even the slightest bit like her mother he would have to think of what to tell her in the morning. She probably wouldn't be pleased that he assured her the mission was safe only to return with blood running down his face.

Resuming his brisk trek to the dungeon Severus passed the now empty great hall and realized how much time he must have spent in the hospital wing. Pushing back his sleeve he glanced at his muggle wind up watch (The only kind that would work in Hogwarts, the electronic ones went on the fritz as soon as he walked through the gates.) and saw that it was nearly quarter to 11. That meant that it was past curfew and he would now have to punish any students that came across his path.

Annoyed that he could not have one moments rest without the thought of incessant Hogwarts brats Severus quickened his pace, despite his fatigue, feeling quite ready to ignore any students that hid well enough for him to just barely catch a glimpse of.

Descending additional sets of stone stairways, glad that he had seen no one, Severus finally rounded the corner to his office and paused. There, asleep at the foot of his door was Ginny Weasley.

Sighing and wondering what he should do, Severus finally decided that he couldn't just leave her there. He would have to wake her up, even if it meant that he would most likely be bickered at now as opposed to later.

Stepping forward he bent down and shook her shoulder. Slowly she sighed and opened her eyes. When she remembered where she was and realized who was waking her up she shot him a stern look.

"Not dangerous indeed, you better be ready to explain yourself." She said, sounding pissed.

"Not here, get up and we'll go in my office." He said. Standing back up Severus tapped the enchanted doorknob with his wand, as it wouldn't open if any other wand touched it; he then waited for Ginny to stand before he strode into his office. She followed him in and he closed the door behind her before he set off across the room.

"Where are you going?" She asked, trailing him towards the door that led to his chambers. Severus shed his frock coat and left it draped over the desk. Rubbing the scar on his head that now had small stubble poking out of the skin he suddenly felt exhausted.

"I'm going to go get ready for bed, follow if you want, I'm really too tired to care." He said, meaning every word of it.

"So that's it. No explanation or anything. You're just going to waltz in covered in blood and then go to bed." She snapped, sounding more and more like Molly. Snape yawned and rubbed his eyes as he entered his sitting room, Ginny close behind him. He wondered if she even noticed that she was in a professor's private quarters or if she was too busy trying to get him to answer her.

"I'm tired." He argued, pondering what he had got himself into as he passed through the sitting room and into his bedroom. While setting his wand on the nightstand he wondered if she would be brave enough to follow him.

"Well don't you think that I'm tired of wondering everyday how long it would be until you got back? You know you told me before Christmas break was over, don't you?" She shot back, proving that she was indeed brave enough to follow him into the bedroom. Severus mouthed the words '_Merlin give me patience'_ as he dug his pajamas (God how he hated that word.) out of the wardrobe.

"I did not tell you that I would be back before the end of Christmas break, I said that you wouldn't see me until _after_ Christmas break. I never offered a specific time." He pointed out, knowing that he was right.

"That's not the point." She argued. Severus ran his hand through his hair and headed into the bathroom where he closed the door to change.

"Then what is the point?" He shouted through the door, just loud enough to be heard, he was far too exhausted to yell out of anger. He heard her footsteps march across the bedroom floor as he took off his robes and the clothes he wore under them. It wasn't until after he had pulled on his black sweat pants and white tee shirt that he heard her respond.

"The point is that you told me you wouldn't get hurt." Her voice drifted through the door and he noticed that she didn't sound angry as much as disappointed now.

"It was hardly a scratch." He assured her, while splashing cold water on his face to wash the now dried blood away. After staring disdainfully at the black circles under his eyes and brushing his teeth he opened the door to carry his clothes to the wardrobe and noticed that she was sitting comfortably on the corner of his bed. She seemed a bit shocked to see him in something other than the robes he always wore, and for some reason she wouldn't look away.

"That's still not the point." She continued to argue, still watching him.

"Well I'm sorry but I couldn't exactly tell you that there was a risk of injury." He pointed out. His clothes now tucked into the wardrobe he turned to face her and leaned against the closed door, unsure of whether he should go get in bed or not.

The tired part of him definitely wanted to but another part of his being argued that it was somehow improper when she was there. Another third part of him argued that maybe she would stay with him but he tried to ignore that part. He didn't know if it was unfortunate or some kind of sign that he couldn't _completely_ ignore it.

"Why not?" She asked. Now he knew that she was just arguing for arguing's sake. He had explained to her before he left that it was a mission for Dumbledore and that he couldn't tell her anything about it.

"You know I couldn't tell you, I explained that I was following Dumbledore's orders before I left." He said, suddenly feeling as if he were repeating himself. _All I want to do is go to sleep, is that too much to ask? Why does she have to worry so much? It was only a scratch. Why does it matter if I'm perfectly fine now?_ He asked himself, and then he thought of what he would have felt like if he had been the one left waiting around for her and stopped.

"I still think I should've been told." She said, watching him closely. Severus suddenly felt awkward from the attention.

"Ginny you would have worried." He said.

"I worried anyway." She countered.

"I know." He admitted. Ginny seemed to think that this was as close as she would get to an apology and got up from the bed. She came to stand by him at the wardrobe and shyly reached out a hand to touch where his cut had been. He was surprised when he let her and had the fleeting urge to pull away but didn't seem to have the energy to fulfill the want.

"How is your hair growing back so fast?" She asked.

"Madame Pomfery." He explained, closing his eyes with fatigue but secretly relishing in her touch. "May I go to sleep now?" he mumbled, managing just enough energy to be slightly sarcastic but also fearful that he might do just that while still on his feet.

"I think you should, you've got the darkest rings I've ever seen under you're eyes." She agreed, paying him back for his sarcasm. Would they always quip at each other like this? He hoped so.

When he opened his eyes she gave him a smile and placed a kiss on his lips. He didn't need to look to find the energy for this, it was just there and after a few moments he pulled back and wandered over to his bed. When the sheets were over him he expected to hear her leave quietly through the doorway in the sitting room. Moments of silence passed and as he waited with his eyes closed to hear her leave so that he could finally sleep, he felt the bed dip beside him.

"What are you doing Ginny?" he mumbled, nearly gone into slumber.

"I can't go back to the Gryffindor common room now, someone would catch me." She explained. He became aware that she had curled up beside him and knew that he should tell her to risk it rather than risk being seen leaving his rooms in the morning but he didn't say anything.

"I'll warn you that I'm not used to sharing a bed." He yawned. "If you get kicked it's your own fault."

"Fair enough." She agreed, laying her head on his outstretched arm and placing her own over his chest. Somewhere in his final moments of consciousness he registered this but he didn't move to be free of her. All he knew was that he took one final deep breath which smelled of her hair before he was gone into a world where the nightmares that occasionally haunted him could never find him. A world all his own where the smell of simple lilac shampoo kept him safe from all the evils that he had committed.

* * *

Ginny listened to Severus' deep and relaxed breathing while she watched his chest rise and fall in slumber. She really was amazed that she had attempted this and succeeded. She had never thought that he would allow her to stay and supposed that part of it was because he was so tired, but she still felt as if it was somehow right.

"_**I never thought someone could look so good in a simple tee shirt and sweat pants."**_

"_Mhmmm." _She murmured, quickly falling into her own state of sleep.

"_**Aren't you glad that I made you stick to this?"**_She asked herself in a very 'I-told-you-so' Manner.

"_Mhmmm." _She repeated and then lost all train of thought as the night took her away until day could bring her back.

* * *

**A/N: **Yay! Update! Everyone thank Masterdeeds, I can't get over how well this chapter was edited and it's all thanks to them. Hope you enjoyed it, I'll write another one soon, I seem to have the writers bug. :D 


	25. Discovered

**Author's precaution: **This chapter contains an "F" word. Be forewarned if you are sensitive to "F" words. (You know it's weird that I never say the "F" word but I think it and write it all the time. Strange huh?)

**Cry Wolf**

**Chapter XXV: Discovered.**

When Ginny woke the next morning she was by herself. Severus' side of the bed was empty and cold with the sheets made up as if they had never been touched. Confused and alone, Ginny sat up and stretched. Where could Severus have gone? She had barely begun to ponder this when she heard footsteps and the person of her thoughts entered the room. He was dressed in his usual black robes and frock coat with his hair restored to it's normal length. Ginny silently missed the sweat pants and tee shirt from the night before.

"I see you're up." He said tensely. There was an awkward thickness to the air between them. Did he regret that she had stayed?

"Well good morning to you too." She remarked, hoping to at least draw him into one of their characteristic quibbles.

"There's breakfast out here if you're hungry," He remarked, ignoring the bait, "then you should probably get back to your dormitory before someone suspects something." He said this as if he had practiced it many times while she was sleeping.

Ginny clambered out of bed thinking that she really shouldn't sleep in her school uniform; she had worked it into a wrinkled mess. She began to make the side of the bed that she'd slept on, (She couldn't really call it hers.) when she heard Severus' footsteps. She thought perhaps he would come over and tell her to go eat and that he would make the bed. She was slightly disappointed after she turned to see that the sound had been him leaving the room.

When she followed him to his sitting room she saw that he was calmly sitting at the table reading the prophet with a plate of toast in front of him. After she took a seat across from him at the small table she was surprised that he didn't look up from his paper.

"When you've finished I'll make sure the coast is clear outside my office so you don't raise any suspicions." He said, not even pausing to look away from the article that he was reading.

"What is your problem?" She asked, feeling a touch offended. Why was he being so distant? Severus simply turned the page in his paper and moved on to the next article.

"I don't have a problem." He said his voice devoid of any emotion. Merlin, how she hated that he could do that. Reaching towards him she pulled the paper from his hands and set it down in front of her on the table.

"What is wrong?" She asked. He frowned at her and pulled the paper back towards himself.

"Well despite the fact that I could be fired because an underage witch spent her night in my bed last night, I'm just peachy keen." He drawled.

"It was just sleep." She said, trying to sound reassuring.

"I know that, but any others who might spot you leaving will most likely be inclined to think otherwise." He snapped.

"Well they'll just have to check my hymen then, won't they? That should be all the proof that they need." She shot back. Snape stared at her as if he had something to say but wasn't sure about how to say it.

"You're- you're a virgin?" He managed to ask after an awkward pause between them.

"Yes." Ginny replied, bristling. "Why do you ask?"

"Well I'd thought that- never mind." He dismissed, pulling his paper back up in front of him and returning to his article.

"You'd thought what?" She asked.

"Nothing." He grunted.

"What did you think?" She asked, her voice raising an octave higher.

"Nothing." He repeated.

"You thought that I'd slept with Harry didn't you?" She answered for him.

"Well, maybe not Potter…" he sneered.

"I can't believe you'd think that!" She was offended, who was he to assume such things?

"Oh come off it." He snapped. "People in my generation were having sex when they were you're age, I think I was actually younger than you are. It's a natural thing to think. Most teenagers your age have given it away a long time ago by now." She noticed he had put the paper down on his own, apparently unable to concentrate on it any longer.

"That is not true."

"Then name one person you know that is still a virgin." He challenged, looking triumphant. Ginny racked her brains, she knew that Anna had slept with one of her boyfriends from last year; she wasn't well enough acquainted with Tia to know for sure if the rumors about her were true. Ron (as disgusting as it was to say) had slept with Lavender, several times, and Hermione had confided to her that she had given her virginity to Victor Krum. The only other person that she could think of that was a virgin was Harry, but in his defense he hadn't had much chance to loose his, there was only that screwed up thing with Cho and then their own very short relationship.

"Harry's a virgin." She responded. Severus snorted into the tea he was drinking.

"That comes as no surprise." He sneered between brief coughs.

"Why are we fighting about this anyway?" She asked, hadn't they been planning a way for her to leave without getting caught?

"Don't ask me, you're the one that brought it up." He said, getting up from the table and taking the paper to deposit it with the pile of other issues in the corner.

"I did not bring it up." She argued, following him so that she could fight with him properly.

"You're the one that said, and I quote, _'They will just have to check my hymen then won't they?' _Clearly you are the one who started all of this." He said, his voice was beginning to growl with agitation, if Ginny hadn't been so angered herself she might have found it sexy.

"Yes but you're the one who asked if I was a virgin." She said, her own voice rising.

"You shouldn't have stayed the night." He yelled, looming over her.

"It was only sleep! For Merlin's sakes have you never just slept with someone before?" She shouted back, standing as straight as she could even though she knew it wasn't intimidating compared to his superior height.

"No!" He barked. Ginny opened her mouth but her words caught. He had never slept with someone before?

"You've never just slept with someone before?" She repeated, genuinely flabbergasted, even she had done that, before him anyway. "But didn't you just say that you were younger than me when you had sex?"

"Yes and that was just sex and nothing more, I didn't hang around afterward and I would appreciate not discussing my personal life." He snapped. His eyes seemed to be calculating her as he moved a step closer.

"You just left the poor girl after having your way with her?" Ginny asked with disbelief. She was completely unprepared for him to back her into the wall and crush his mouth onto hers - but that was what he did. His kiss was demanding and hungry and she nearly lost herself in it, hardly even recognizing that he had her wrists pinned to the wall. When he broke away she could barely catch her senses.

"Did you know you're irresistible when you're angry?" he growled in her ear before trailing kisses down her neck.

"You're a liar." She moaned as he gently bit her collar bone.

"I wasn't lying." He mumbled into her skin as his kisses traveled back up the opposite side of her neck.

"Yes you did. You said you couldn't initiate anything with me and here you are."

"I can't help what I'm driven to do." He quipped before kissing her mouth again. When he broke away she was out of breath and he looked happily smug. "You're lucky I don't enjoy breaking the law because you're asking for me to fuck you right now."

"Such nasty words." She derisively scolded before kissing him herself. "Part of me thinks that you'd easily forget that rule as well."

"Well part of you thinks wrong." He corrected her, giving her one last kiss before he let her go to glance at his watch. "You should really go now, breakfast will start soon, if you hurry you can skip into the great hall before anyone notices you're coming up from the dungeons." As he said this he swept out of the sitting room and into his office. When she followed him she saw that he had his head stuck through the doorway and into the hall. "No one's out here, hurry now and go." Ginny rolled her eyes at his _I-hold-all-authority_ manner but entered the hallway anyway.

"Good bye." She bid, as if she were in some medieval fairy tale.

"Yes, I'll see you later." He said before shutting the door. With a sigh of irritation Ginny headed towards the great hall. Who ever thought that the cantankerous old bat of the dungeons could be so moody?

* * *

Snape closed the door behind Ginny and headed back into his own rooms. It was becoming increasingly difficult to restrain himself from her, especially when he had slip ups like he did moments before.

Growling at his pent up sexual frustration, and at the fact that he had no time to deal with it, Severus cleared the table with a wave of his wand and prepared to head to the main hall to hear whatever dribble Dumbledore had invented to tell the students.

* * *

At breakfast the headmaster announced to the school that Professor Snape had been sent into the forbidden forest to help Hagrid search for an injured thestral and that his injury had been the result of emerging too close to the whomping willow.

Professor McGonagall announced that because Professor Snape had returned the animagus meetings could finally begin and would commence that evening at seven pm. Many of the students who had been hoping to attend curled their noses at the thought of voluntarily joining a club Snape was involved with. Ginny suspected that the attendance rate would drop significantly before it really ever had a chance to manifest itself as a large number. She didn't particularly care however, the less people present the less annoying the inane chatter would be.

The day, however, was fairly boring. Ginny often caught herself daydreaming in class, drifting back to the memory of Severus' kiss that morning. No one had ever kissed her like that. Had she gotten in over her head with him? After all he wasn't like the boys in her grade who were happy to get a fast piece of ass and be on their way. He was a man; he would probably be after more than just a quick rendezvous between the sheets.

"Miss. Weasley, did you hear what I said?" Professor Flitwick asked her, breaking her train of thought.

"Sorry Professor." She blushed.

"It's quite alright, everyone's usually a little hazy this early after Christmas break but please do try to pay attention." He said before going back to his lecture. Ginny figured that she had better pay attention and began scribbling notes.

* * *

The crowd in the great hall that evening was less than substandard. From the time that the notice had appeared on the bulletin board to the time that the student body discovered Snape would be assisting in the program, the expected turn out had dropped by at least 80. After a quick count Ginny confirmed that there were seven Ravenclaws, two Hufflepuffs, three Slytherins and an equal amount of Gryffindors. (These Gryffindors consisted of Anna-Rose, herself, and Tia Fatopeh.)

"It doesn't look like many of these people plan on staying." Anna commented as she watched some of the Ravenclaws talking amongst themselves and shooting furtive glances towards Severus, who was quietly conversing with a disappointed looking McGonagall, standing on the small stage that had been constructed.

"I can't really blame them." Tia agreed, watching some of the Ravenclaws and one Hufflepuff head for the door.

"That's ridiculous." Ginny said crossly. "They can't just let him interfere with their opportunity to become animagus."

"Well they can't exactly ask him to leave can they?" Anna pointed out.

"They could learn to put up with him. It's not that difficult." She said, sighing with exasperation.

"You only say that because you're so used to him after all that tutoring. You know I bet he's been your secret boyfriend all this time." Anna teased. Ginny felt her stomach clench and hoped to Merlin that she wasn't blushing; she must not have been because a second afterwards Anna began to laugh. "Can you imagine Ginny and Snape hitting it off? Just look at the expression on her face." She continued to laugh with Tia joining in as Ginny tried her best not to smile and keep faking utter disgust.

"Quiet down Miss. Awlyr, if you know how." Snape sneered while sweeping passed. "All of you to the front of the stage." He barked across the room making his way in the opposite direction to shut the doors.

Smirking to herself at how fast Anna went silent Ginny followed the throng of people to the stage where McGonagall was waiting for them.

"Now, how to begin." McGonagall mumbled to herself, "Ah yes, as all of you know, an animagus is a person who has the power to transform themselves at will into the animal that best defines their personality. It can take many years to accomplish this difficult feat of magic but some have done it as fast as a single year." She lectured. "Yes, Miss. Awlyr?" She asked because Anna-Rose had raised her hand into the air.

"What will we be doing during these sessions?" She asked.

"Good Question." McGonagall pointed out. "I will tell you all, that I didn't start this course as a fun for all free fall like the defense sessions of Gilderoy Lockhart. If you continue in this course, it will be lots of hard work, there will be paper theory, as well as homework. Those who truly wish to achieve their status as an animagus will have to commit to the work as if it were just another one of their classes."

"In other words, no dunderhead slacking." Snape drawled as he joined McGonagall on the stage. McGonagall looked for a second as if she had rolled her eyes.

"Although I wouldn't quite say it that way, Professor Snape is right, if you want to complete this course you can not breeze through it. Yes Mr. Iberian? She asked because a Hufflepuff's hand had shot up.

"What methods will we be using during this course?" He asked.

"For the better part of the course you will all be doing bookwork, which reminds me I have your books up here, they were generously donated by the animagus registry at the ministry of magic. They are getting desperate for new animagus as well." With a flick of her wand the pile of books next to the stage sprang open and a book zoomed to each expecting student. Ginny grabbed hers out of the air and read the title.

_Animagus Adaptation Advisement and Approach Assignments_by _Anabella Arventius Arnworrow._

"Someone has alliteration issues." Anna sang under her breath as she too read the title. Ginny opened randomly to the middle of the book and saw a picture of a man transforming into a hawk, then back and then repeating the process.

"How long until we can transform into our animals?" Barry Binnetly asked from the small group of Slytherins.

"Raise your hand if you have a question Mr. Binnetly." McGonagall snapped and then added, "I wouldn't expect any of you to complete your transformations until at least a year has passed. It's unlikely that any of you will break the record for fastest transformation."

"What is the record?" Barry asked, without raising his hand.

"Mr. Binnetly I will not answer any more of your questions until you raise your hand, this may not be a formal class but as I'm running it we will follow classroom etiquette."

"The record is seven months." Snape drawled from beside her, he was beginning to look bored with the entire thing.

"How do you know?" Barry challenged, Snape's eyes snapped to the young Slytherin and a scowl crossed his face. Ginny rolled her eyes at Barry's stupidity; surely he knew his own head of house was not one to be challenged, especially in the tone he was using.

"Because I hold it Mr. Binnetly, now I suggest _you_ hold your tongue and do what Professor McGonagall says or I will see you in detention." He snarled while keeping his eyes locked with Barry's. Barry stared determinedly back before making a noise that sounded lie 'tchah' and averting his gaze to the floor.

"Thank you Severus." McGonagall said, looking quite annoyed at Barry's outburst. "Now, for your first assignment, you are all to read chapter one and complete the questions at the end of said chapter before next Wednesday's meeting. Are there any more questions before you are all dismissed?" A shy Ravenclaw raised their hand into the air and McGonagall nodded towards them.

"Professor, I've only ever seen you turn into a cat, do people transform into other animals too?" She was blushing just at the thought of talking to the group at large and Ginny thought that she must be very shy indeed.

"Yes they do, according to the registry mammals are the most common form that people can transform into but witches and wizards can change into a wide variety of animals. Professor Snape, perhaps you'd like to show the class your form?" She asked. Snape scowled and it looked as if he would never dream of doing such a thing.

"I don't see why that's necessary Minerva." He sneered, his voice back to its normal silky tones.

"I don't think he can actually do it." Anna whispered into Ginny's ear and almost as if there was an echo in the room Barry blurted the same thing moments afterwards.

"You can't actually transform can you professor?" He said, his voice was steely and Ginny wondered what had gotten into him all of a sudden.

"Mr. Binnetly I warned you before." Snape growled. "Detention tomorrow night, you'll be cleaning with Mr. Filch."

"Diversions, diversions, you're still only hiding the fact that you aren't an animagus at all." Barry shot back.

"I bet you a galleon Snape turns into a bat." Anna whispered into Ginny's ear.

"Deal." Ginny agreed as she waited for Severus to put Barry in his place.

"Mr. Binnetly to my office this instant, I will discuss this with you afterwards and we will arrange your _week's_ worth of detentions with Filch." Snape barked, looking livid. When his black eyes followed Barry leaving the room Ginny caught his gaze. She made the best pouting face that she could muster to try to convey her disappointment that he wouldn't transform. Severus rolled his eyes at her and went back to casually surveying the class.

* * *

McGonagall looked to be pondering something before she spoke to him quietly enough that the class would not hear. "Severus, I really think it is essential to this course that the students see more than one animagus transformation."

"Your point?" He intoned his gaze unfaltering. If she wanted him to reveal his form to a bunch of busy bodied brats and have it all over the school by the next morning then she had better offer something good.

"My point is that if you agree to show them I-" she paused here as if she were wondering whether or not she was making a huge mistake. "I am willing to perform your nightly rounds for a week." Severus stared at her for a moment while calculating the possibilities; after all, the only thing he enjoyed more than punishing wayward students was not seeing them at all.

"Two months." He argued, upping the ante.

"Two weeks."

"Six."

"Four weeks and that is as high as I will go." She said flatly and Severus knew she was telling the truth.

"Deal." He agreed. McGonagall smiled thinking that she had won. Severus smirked once she had turned away because he would have done it for one week free of nightly rounds in the first place.

"Attention class!" She said, bringing them all out of their separate conversations. "After some persuading Professor Snape has agreed to perform a transformation for you all." It seemed as if every eye in the room were watching him expectantly. Severus' lip curled in annoyance.

* * *

"You're gonna owe me a galleon!" Anna whispered excitedly as both she and Tia watched, transfixed with anticipation. Ginny suppressed a smile and watched as Severus' body seemed to fall into fluid and then reform as the startling black wolf that she had walked with. His ears were pinned back in annoyance and his black eyes seemed to say _'Somehow you got me into this.'_

"Looks like you owe me a galleon Anna." Ginny said, turning triumphantly to her friend. Anna was staring open jawed at the wolf on the stage.

"Snape?" She hissed when she finally turned to face Ginny. "SNAPE?" Tia was also staring at Ginny in shock before slowly backing away and then running out of the great hall as fast as she could.

"Where are you going Miss. Fatopeh?" McGonagall shouted across the room as Tia disappeared through the doors. Ginny glanced from the closed door to a gaping mouthed Anna to Severus who had just sprung back into his human form looking completely confused.

"I was about to say class dismissed but it seems that some of us just couldn't wait. The rest of you may go." McGonagall dismissed. Ginny caught a brief glimpse of Severus leaving the stage and coming towards them before Anna seized her arm and began dragging her towards the doors.

"Common room. Now!" She snapped, still holding her arm in a fierce grip. Ginny felt herself being steered through the crowd until they were through the doors, up the stairs and marching down the corridor on the next level. She could hear someone following at a brisk pace behind them but couldn't look to see out of fear that Anna would suddenly whip her around a corner and Ginny would try to keep going straight. "I cannot believe this!" Anna mumbled to herself as they rounded another corner and froze. There, waiting in the hallway was Albus Dumbledore and a very disgusted looking Tia. Whoever was following behind them froze as well before slowly advancing to stand just after them.

"There you are Miss. Weasley, if you'll just come with us, and Severus you had better come as well." Dumbledore said. Gulping, Ginny realized who must have been following them and wrestled her arm out of Anna's grip. When she made her way towards Dumbledore she could hear Snape following, wisely he chose to stand on a different side of the headmaster than she did. "Please return to you Common room Miss. Awlyr, Ginny will return shortly." Dumbledore dismissed her before heading the opposite way down the hallway, no doubted leading them towards his office.

Surprisingly after passing a few rooms the elderly wizard stopped and peered into a long abandoned classroom. "Yes I think this will do." He said jubilantly before ushering them inside.

The three, students and teacher, entered the classroom followed by their headmaster and the door was closed behind them. With a wave of his wand the wizard conjured four chairs, three facing the first before he sat in the biggest of the four.

"Please join me." He said, gesturing to the chairs. Ginny came forward and sat in the middle chair while Tia sat in the chair on the left, all the while refusing to look at Ginny. "Please sit Severus, so that we may begin." Dumbledore kindly instructed. Severus glanced from the chair to Dumbledore and looked as if for a moment he would refuse but in the end proceeded forward and sat in the empty chair. Ginny fought the temptation to glance at him by remaining fixated on Dumbledore. "Some… unusual news has been brought to my attention by your fellow Gryffindor, Tia Fatopeh." He spoke, while tenting his fingers.

"And what would that be?" Snape said icily, as if he had no idea what was interrupting his day. Ginny envied his casual ability to act uninterested.

"Miss Fatopeh, would you care to tell them what you've told me?" Dumbledore asked kindly while gazing over his half moon spectacles.

Tia trembled slightly, perhaps she was scared to admit her accusation in front of professor Snape but that didn't stop her from speaking.

"Well, you see one night, Anna-Rose and I were waiting for Ginny to return to the tower because she was out well passed curfew, and we were both looking out the window when we saw her walking on the grounds. She wasn't alone though; there was this black wolf with her, and when I saw professor Snape change tonight at the animagus meeting…" She paused and her words seemed to catch in her throat. Ginny personally hoped that Tia was terrified and judging by the way the girl's eyes kept darting between Dumbledore and the man beside Ginny, she most certainly was. "I- well I just knew that it was professor Snape that had been with Ginny that night." She finished lamely.

"So in short, you are accusing Professor Snape and Miss. Weasley of having a physical relationship, much like you told me in my office." Dumbledore surmised for the girl. Tia nodded mutely and looked at her feet. Beside her Ginny heard Severus snort as if the idea was utterly preposterous.

"What do you have to say to these charges Miss. Weasley?" Dumbledore asked quite suddenly. Ginny was caught off guard and could only manage to stutter.

"Well, I – uh that is to say I-"

"The entire notion is completely false." Snape interrupted her, practically saving her. Dumbledore glanced not unkindly to Snape but quickly looked back to Ginny.

"Thank you Severus but I asked Miss. Weasley. If you would continue?" Albus proposed. Ginny swallowed.

"Sev- Professor Snape is right. The entire thing is ridiculous." She managed to say but had the horrible feeling that by the heat in her cheeks, she was turning the same colour as her hair. Dumbledore's eyes twinkled madly.

"Understood completely, there you have it Miss. Fatopeh, as you have heard there is no truth to this accusation. Naturally you must have mistaken professor Snape for a rather large mutt that is known to be skulking around here. Out of the corner of her eye Ginny saw Severus' lip curl at the idea of being called a mutt and suppressed a smirk.

"But professor!" Tia objected. "I know what I saw!"

"Yes, yes dear, we all believe in what our eyes tell us but if we were foolish enough to rely on that alone then all of us would think it impossible to breathe. Now off to your dormitory with you, you'll want to get some sleep so that you'll be punctually arriving at your classes tomorrow." Dumbledore dismissed, Tia realized that the subject was closed and shot Ginny a disgusted look before exiting the room.

Although Dumbledore was still looking rather amused, before either Ginny or Severus could get out a word he snapped his fingers and Dobby the house elf appeared.

"Yes Master Dumbledore sir, how can Dobby be serving you?" He squeaked, bowing deeply, the elf's eyes widened slightly when he spotted Ginny and she silently prayed that he didn't mention anything about being '_Harry Potter's girlfriend._'

"Dobby, please take this to Miss. Fatopeh and have her drink it before she returns to her common room please." Dumbledore instructed, pulling a small phial of ordinary water from his robes and flicking his wand at it before handing it to the house elf. Dobby bowed once more.

"Yes sir." The elf said and thankfully left without another word to Ginny. Dumbledore smiled as the elf left and cast them both a knowing, albeit still twinkling, look.

"Well then, since we have gotten that taken care of I must be on my way, a headmaster's day is very busy as you may have assumed. But none the less, best of wishes to both of you." He stated as he left the room, closing the door behind him. Ginny didn't know how he kept his voice so nonchalant when his remark was so utterly obvious. She clearly knew that Dumbledore knew of her and Severus' relationship and was actively ignoring it but by the way he spoke he could make her think as if nothing had happened at all.

"Did he just…?"

"Basically give us permission? It would seem so, but Dumbledore is impossible to understand sometimes." Severus answered her; he looked deep in thought as if there were something that he just couldn't figure out.

"What is it?" She asked, Severus' snapped out of his trance and his eyes darted to her face.

"I was wondering how Miss Fatopeh possibly spotted us when it was stark black outside. It was night after all." He pondered. Ginny let the question run through her mind and couldn't find an answer either.

"I'll find out from Anna, Oh MY GOD ANNA!" She said, her voice rising in panic.

"What?" He asked waspishly, Ginny knew that he was probably not in the mood for this right now.

"Anna knows as well! What am I going to tell her?" Severus' face darkened and his eyes darted back and forth as if he were reading while he thought.

"You'll have to tell her to keep her mouth shut or the whole school will know, I'll be out of a job and you'll be expelled. Dumbledore chose to ignore one student for who knows why but he will not ignore the entire student body. _Especially_ not the teachers." He emphasized.

"Right, I'll do that then." Ginny agreed.

"Go now!" Snape snapped when she did not move.

"Right!" She repeated and jumped to her feet, "I'll come see you later to tell you what happened."

"No, you stay in your dormitory for the next few days, if Miss. Fatopeh spots you anywhere near the dungeons you're only going to make her suspicious." He instructed, his professor tone well in tune.

"Fine, I'll see you in potions then." She groaned with frustration before darting out of the classroom.

* * *

Severus rolled his eyes and stood, banishing the chairs with a sweep of his wand.

What a mess that insolent Fatopeh girl had gotten him into. If only they had followed the _office_ rule from the beginning then none of this would have happened. Well, he would make sure that they wouldn't be straying from the rule anytime in the near future, he wouldn't lose his job over something as trivial as other people sticking there noses where they didn't belong. Why should they care who he saw anyway?

_They care because she's sixteen _He reminded himself. At this thought his lip curled. _Yes that may be true, but she will only be sixteen for seven more months and once her birthday has come I can stop reminding myself of that and quit feeling guilty over some stupid law, August is when she's of age, and August is when I won't have to reprimand myself for fraternizing with an underage witch any longer._

Now in a very foul mood indeed, Severus left the classroom and swept back to his dungeons, even though he still had Barry Binnetly to deal with at least he had a month free of nightly rounds. More importantly than that he intended to award Miss. Fatopeh with a detention as soon as the opportunity arose.

* * *

**A/N:**Well there it is; the new chapter! I won't say anything about the plot of Deathly Hallows, but those of you who have read it will understand exactly what I mean perhaps without me saying it.

Thanks Masterdeeds for the wonderful editing job, I'm glad you liked it and I hope all of you readers like it as well. I'm pondering how to attempt the next chapter right now, my writers bug seems to have worn off but that only means I don't feel the compulsive need to write, I still want to.

A side note to those of you who have not read Deathly Hallows saying that I hope you thoroughly enjoy it!


	26. Room of Requirement Confidant

**Cry Wolf**

**Chapter XXIV: Room of Requirement Confidant.**

Ginny could not remember dreading something more than she dreaded having to explain herself to Anna-Rose. What if her friend never spoke to her again? What if she refused to keep what she had discovered a secret?

The fact that Dumbledore had not led them to his office made perfect sense now, if the portraits had heard one breath past the accusations Tia delivered and into what the headmaster had said it would have been all over the school. But Dumbledore's precautions would be utterly useless if Anna decided that she couldn't keep Ginny's secret.

Pounding around a corner Ginny passed the tiny house elf Dobby who offered her a weak smile as she ran by. When the portrait of the fat lady came into view Ginny noticed that Tia was standing next to the portrait, looking confused and staring at an empty vial that she held in her hand. Ginny ignored her, spoke the password and leapt through the portrait hole, searching the crowd for Anna.

The Gryffindor in question spotted her first and seemed to appear out of no where.

"What are you thinking? Are you mental?" She hissed, latching onto her arm and beginning to lead her towards the dormitory.

"No. Not here." Ginny insisted and wrenched her arm out of Anna's grip, "Come with me." She turned to go back out of the common room and, walking at a brisk pace, headed for the seventh floor. Anna was rushing along behind here, repeatedly muttering things such as _'I can't believe this'_, and _'How on earth?'_ Ginny ignored these comments and continued to walk until they reached the familiar stretch of empty wall that she had visited several times before. Concentrating on what she needed Ginny walked past the wall three times, muttering to herself, _'I need somewhere safe to confide… I need somewhere safe to confide… I need somewhere safe to confide…'_ After the last pass she turned to find that a door had appeared among the stone. "In here." She told Anna, before entering the room.

The inside of the chamber had transformed into a moderately sized room, the walls appeared to be sound proofed and there were no windows. Lanterns hung from the ceilings to provide light and in the center of the room there was a couch big enough for the both of them. Besides that the room was generally bare. When Ginny turned around to close the door she saw that Anna had already done so and was glaring at Ginny with her hands planted on her hips.

"Snape?" She asked shrilly "Tell me it's not true. Tell me anything, anyone else besides that greasy git!"

"Hey!" Ginny objected. "If you want to know the truth you will not call him a greasy git!" Ginny shot back, sure Anna probably deserved some answers, but she wasn't about to let her insult Severus.

"Oh Merlin it's true! Ginny, you've been seduced by a teacher! How could you let this happen?" She howled, shaking Ginny's shoulders.

"Calm down Anna! He didn't seduce me; it was more the other way around than anything." Ginny snapped, slapping Anna's hands off of her. Anna gaped at her and Ginny decided that she had better continue before Anna went into another rant. "Look, I know what you're probably thinking but none of this was planned it just sort of happened."

"Just sort of happened?" Anna repeated. "How can you just sort of snog your professor? No, wait, what am I saying? You haven't kissed him; no one in their right mind would kiss Snape! Of course you haven't kissed him." She reasoned with herself. Ginny felt her face heat and Anna's jaw dropped when she noticed her friend's blush. "You have kissed him! Ginny what are you thinking you can't go around with a teacher! He's over twice your age! He could be your father, despite how gross that is it's true! People say he's a death eater for Merlin's sakes!-"

"Anna I know! I've told myself those things so many times, you need to let me explain, you won't understand until I do. Come sit with me on the couch and I'll tell you everything." Ginny interrupted before leading her friend to the small couch.

Anna merely stared at Ginny, still shocked and clearly not comprehending anything but after a moment she trudged over and took a seat next to her fellow Gryffindor. Ginny took a deep breath, how was she supposed to explain something she didn't fully understand to someone who wasn't ready to accept it? She would have to go back to the beginning, unless she told the whole story Anna would never understand.

Taking a deep breath she began way back when her tutoring had just begun and Ginny had discovered that Severus was not the completely evil bastard everyone though he was but a man who kept himself heavily guarded. She explained how he had actually begun joking around with her in their long forgotten battle of wits.

Anna listened to the story quietly; somehow managing not to interrupt through the entire thing although at the point where Ginny explained about how she had stayed the night she looked very peaky. When the story was finally over Anna remained silent for a very long time and the air between them had an awkward tension thick enough to be cut with a knife.

"Ginny, I understand where you're coming from." She broke the silence. Ginny felt a great wave of relief wash over her, but it quickly faltered, what did that mean exactly?

"Does that mean you'll keep it a secret?" She asked. Anna bit her lip. "Please Anna, you can't tell anyone, I could get expelled, Severus could be fired, please don't breathe a word." She begged.

"I won't tell." Anna agreed. "But that doesn't mean I agree." She added.

"Oh, Anna, thank you!" Ginny exclaimed, puling her friend into a hug, relief rushing over her in earnest.

"Let's never speak of this again all right?" Anna said quite seriously when Ginny had released her. "I don't think I can stomach it." Ginny fixed her with an exasperated stare before shaking her head.

"You should have listened to me and never tried to figure it out." Anna didn't respond to this but affably shook her head.

"C'mon, let's go back to the common room. Just hearing about you snogging Snape makes me want to brush my teeth." She joked rising from her seat and heading for the door. Ginny followed, promising herself that she would never, ever tell Severus that someone besides themselves knew the details of their relationship.

XXX

Severus scanned the crowd of annoying students with boredom. Another day, another headache for him and most likely endless accounts of student created irritations. Luckily he didn't have rounds to complete in the evening, or for the next month.

His eyes flickered to the door as another student filed in, books clutched to their chest. He recognized her immediately as the Fatopeh girl that had brought about the whole series of accusations the night before. When she looked up to the staff table their eyes briefly met and she shot him a glare that clearly said _'I know what you're getting away with.'_ He sneered at her and an instant later was surprised when her brow furrowed, eyes clouded over and she seemed to forget what was happening. She stared at the floor for a moment before shaking her head and heading towards her house table. Severus followed her with his eyes, slightly perplexed, what exactly had Dumbledore given the girl last night?

"Albus?" He asked, turning his attention to the seat next to him, usually he didn't sit this close to the headmaster but he had other things to discuss this morning as well, and Minerva wouldn't mind relinquishing her seat for one morning.

"Yes Severus?" Albus answered, buttering his toast with apple jam.

"What exactly was in the phial Dobby took to Miss. Fatopeh?" He asked. Dumbledore glanced up from his toast, eyes twinkling, a small smile curving his lips.

"Nothing that she will recall drinking. The water was enchanted with a simple memory charm. She doesn't forget what happened, but every time she thinks about speaking of it she loses her train of thought." He explained.

Severus silently cursed and praised the man at the same time, he had seen to it that the girl would never speak of her suspicions but at the same time Albus knew something that Severus would rather he didn't. He was sure that from now on whenever he saw the man the headmaster would have the knowing smile on his face; it was enough to make him uncomfortable anyway. He decided to continue with the conversation as if he hadn't asked about the phial.

"Barry Binnetly knows that I visited his father. He is somewhat suspicious which means that Burnolt must be suspicious as well."

"Did you not say that you thought Burnolt wouldn't tell Lucius about you visit?" Albus asked.

"Yes, and he hasn't. I was able to read Barry's mind without him noticing, he keeps all his thoughts at the very front like any simpleton." Severus drawled. Albus looked unimpressed that Severus had called Barry a simpleton so he quickly continued. "Mr. Binnetly and his father are creating a plan to rise through the ranks of the death eaters, they are drawing on the old suspicions of my loyalties and Burnolt has instructed his son to keep an eye on me."

"This, at least, explains Mr. Binnetly's sudden disrespect for you." Albus concluded.

"Yes." Severus agreed. "I plan to avoid the boy as much as possible; if he somehow finds out I've told you this or sees us speaking together at the wrong moment about the wrong thing the suspicions about me could quickly turn for the worst." Albus nodded.

"Of course, from now on we will only speak while in my office, and be careful who else you let Barry see you with." He commented nonchalantly but the familiar twinkle had returned to his eye.

"Yes headmaster." Severus replied dryly. "Now, if you'll excuse me I must go prepare for my classes." Rising from the table he swept from the hall and headed for the dungeons, the only indication he portrayed of looking for Ginny was that his eyes lingered on the Gryffindor table for perhaps just a little too long.

XXX

Time slowly ticked by, Ginny continued attending classes, purposefully exploding cauldrons on thirteen separate occasions so that she could land herself in detentions that she never had to serve. January dragged into February which held off March for as long as possible. It seemed the students in the castle were all holding a collective breath as they prayed for the Easter holidays to arrive sooner rather than the eternity they were taking.

Finally the day arrived; students everywhere were packing up their trunks and preparing to head home for the holiday. Ginny was staying at the school as she had done for the Christmas holidays. She told anyone who asked that it was because she didn't see the point of going home for only three days but she knew, and Anna did as well, that she really wanted to be able to visit Severus without having to worry about burning her eyebrows off.

Despite her friend's initial negative outlook on Ginny's choice of relationship, around mid march she finally seemed to have accepted the idea and had actually ventured into conversation about it on a few rare occasions. Although most of the time it was to ask silly questions such as if he were really a vampire or if he tortured the girls he dated like most of the castle speculated. Ginny knew that her friend wasn't serious about these topics but still found them slightly annoying albeit humorous.

Once all the students who were leaving were off and Ginny had seen Anna to the gate she headed back to the castle with the intention of going to visit Severus. She descended the stone stairs one at a time, by now she was used to the drop in temperature and when she reached Severus' office the door was opening and Barry Binnetly was being pushed outside.

"Mr. Binnetly I do not have the time or the patience to overlook every assignment or bit of homework that you complete. I'm sure that someone in your house would be more than happy to assist you now return to your dormitory." Severus' voice drifted out of the doorway, snappish with irritation. Barry didn't respond to his head of house but stared sourly at his bit of parchment as the door closed behind him. When he glanced up he caught sight of Ginny and a confused look donned his face.

"Weasley? What are you doing down here, you little blood traitor?" He demanded, eyeing her warily. Ginny glared back at him while her mind wildly searched for an acceptable lie.

"I have detention," She invented, _why not go with the norm_? "If you must know." Barry's face took on a superior, mocking look.

"Oh yes, I'd forgotten that you have become just as _amazing_ at potion making as that idiot, Longbottom." He sneered.

"Neville is _not _an idiot!" Ginny flared, her hands balling themselves into fists as she huffed with anger. "In fact he is quite smart, potions is just a bad subject for him." Barry threw back his head and laughed.

"That's a good one Weasley, imagine, Longbottom smart. Smart and Longbottom shouldn't even be said in the same sentence together."

"Well, it's funny that he's beating you in Herbology then isn't it?" Ginny snapped. Barry's face darkened and in a flash he drew his wand and began walking towards her.

"Listen here blood traitor, just because Longbottom happens to be some kind of _freak _who can pot plants and grow daisies -"

"Neville is not a freak!" Ginny shouted, drawing her own wand and not backing down an inch.

"Well it would take some kind of freak to be good at a subject that is such a joke."

"I'd forgotten that the Dark Arts are more your forte, aren't they? Got any tattoos on your arm yet, Barry?" Ginny snarled at him. In an instant there was a flash of light and something exploded near Ginny's waist, she felt heat and knew that her robes must have burned. Whipping her own wand at Barry's head she sent a Bat Bogey hex his way but he ducked it and sent a flash of red light whizzing past her ear. There was a crash behind her followed by another bang as she sent a hex that knocked him over backwards. Barry flicked his wand at her as he fell and she felt herself wrenched into the air by the ankle. She swore loudly before shooting another bat bogey hex that met its mark just as Barry had scrambled back to his feet. He cursed as the bat bogey's lunged at his face and thumped into the wall, there was a bang of him falling followed by a wrenching sound as a door slammed open.

"Expelliarmus!" Snape shouted as he stepped into the hallway and broke up the duel. Barry's wand soared through the air and Ginny's also flew out of her hand and glided towards Snape. He caught them both with ease. "Finite Incantatem." He said smoothly and instantly the bat bogey's disappeared and Ginny slumped to the floor, landing roughly on her side. "I believe both of you know that dueling is strictly prohibited inside Hogwarts walls and grounds." He drawled.

"Wealsey started it!" Barry instantly accused.

"I most certainly did not!" Ginny objected.

"Silence!" Severus hissed. "Twenty points from each of your houses, yes Mr. Binnetly I will take points from my own house." He added to cease the outraged look on Barry's face. "Now, get to your dormitory where I explicitly told you to go." He barked. Barry _'humffed'_ before slumping off deeper into the dungeons. "Miss. Weasley, in my office, now!" He barked while Barry was still in sight.

Ginny obliged and entered his office; he followed her and closed the door behind them. He waited by it, listening carefully before finally turning around.

"Are you all right?" He asked, handing over her wand, his brows creased in confusion. Ginny nodded.

"Yes, I think so." She said angrily while righting her robes and inspecting the small potion of cigarette like burn holes.

"What in Merlin's name were you two fighting about?" He asked while taking a seat back at his desk and pulling a pile of parchment towards himself, scratching at it with his red, self-inking quill.

"The usual, he demanded to know why I was here and it progressed to him calling me a blood traitor and Neville an idiot. I defended Neville, he threatened me with is wand, yadda, yadda, yadda." Severus' mouth twitched at the mention of Neville being an idiot but he didn't say anything about the subject.

"What did you tell him when he asked why you were here?"

"That I had detention." He looked up from his work and raised an eyebrow at her.

"And why have you really come?"

"I think you know why." She said suggestively, making her way toward him before bending down to brush her lips against his. True to his initial word Severus had not repeated his outburst of possessive kissing like he had so many months ago, despite how much she wished he would he had continued to restrain himself. Even now he waited until her lips met his before he joined her, deepening the kiss and making it fuller. When they parted he looked into her eyes for a long moment. Finally feeling uneasy she spoke to try to break the silence.

"I didn't go home for the Easter holidays, I thought I could spend time with you." She ventured.

"Your exams are coming up, you should really be studying." He commented, raising his brow again. "There are some potion books over there that you could look through; they contain most of the material that was covered this year."

"You want me to study?" She asked, disbelief written on her face.

"It would be wise."

"But I came to see you." She objected.

"I don't want to be the fault of your poor marks." He said pointing at the books.

"So if I come down here to see you, you're just going to make me study?" She asked.

"Mostly. If you should become… _distracted _every now and then it is hardly my fault." He answered mysteriously. She pressed another kiss to his lips and he pulled her into his lap, enticing a quiet, surprised shriek from her as he parted her lips with his tongue. When he broke away for need of oxygen he again pointed to the books. "Now, as your _Professor_, I say go study. Exams will be here in less than ten weeks."

"Yes, sir." She sighed analytically before clambering off of him and trudging towards the pile of books. She picked up their sixth year potion book, brought it back to sit next to him at his desk and began to half heartedly read the first chapter, glancing up to watch Severus between pages.

"You're not concentrating." He said after ten minutes of her repeated page turn and glance ritual.

"I'm distracted." She said slyly.

"No one is distracted that much. Finish chapter three and you can stop." He reasoned.

"OK." She sighed, looking back to her book and its boring text while listening to the scratching of Severus' quill.

A half hour later she set the book down.

"I'm finished." She announced, leaning towards him and resting her head against his shoulder.

"Earlier than I expected." He commented, still scratching away at the parchments, the movements of his arm causing her head to sway slightly with the rhythm of his writing.

"What are you thinking?" She asked whimsically after a moment's silence.

"That these first years are by far the stupidest I've taught in my entire life." He answered without hesitation, marking a large red 'X' onto some poor student's essay. "You?"

"Just that I wish my birthday was sooner." She sighed, tired of living behind shadows and hiding her involvement from the world. At least if she was Seventeen and of age there would be nothing anyone could do about her and Severus besides complain.

"It isn't wise to wish your life away." He said softly.

"I know, but August is so far away and I don't know if I can keep lying to everyone for that long."

"It will come."

"But time is passing so slowly."

"Regardless, it will still come."

"Are you still going to wait for me even when school's over with and we don't see each other every day?" She asked.

"Why wouldn't I?" He asked.

"I just thought perhaps it would be too long of a wait."

"You worry too much, time will pass, your birthday will come and I will wait. You should probably head back to you Dormitory now, it's getting quite late." He commented, glancing at his wrist. He was probably the only adult wizard she had ever met that wore a muggle watch.

She pecked him on the cheek, realizing how tired she actually was.

"I'll try to get detention on Tuesday." She suggested.

"Can you do it without blowing anything up? I'm running out of cauldrons."

"Very funny. Would you really rather have me insult you in front of the class?"

"It doesn't particularly matter; you can't beat me when it comes to throwing insults anyways."

"Classroom insult it is then. See you tomorrow."

"Goodnight."

XXX

Severus watched Ginny leave the room before grading the last test. He sighed and piled the parchments aside to hand back when the students returned on Tuesday.

He wasn't looking forward to when Ginny discovered that despite being of age, they would most likely have to keep their relationship hidden. He couldn't bring himself to tell her but he knew that if a breath of it leaked outside the castle the prophet would be all over them, running both of their names into the mud. It was also likely that her father would also attempt to murder him; he wasn't fool enough to think that Molly wasn't a threat either.

It seemed the only upside of her coming to age was that if they were discovered it was completely legal, besides other benefits… _No!_ He shouldn't let himself think of that, she was still under age and until she wasn't he would not think of her that way. Not voluntarily anyway.

Sighing he rose from his desk and proceeded out of his office to complete his rounds, Ginny still on his mind. Too bad he couldn't con his rounds off on McGonagall again, at least then he could be doing something useful.

* * *

A/N: A Big thanks to Masterdeeds who took time out of their busy schedule to beta this. I really appreciate it. Hope everyone likes the chapter and thanks to everyone who reviewed last chapter. Enjoy! 


	27. The Spat

**A/N** F word warning.

**

* * *

**

**Cry Wolf**

**Chapter XXV: A Spat**

Despite the manner in which the months before Easter had passed, the actual holiday had passed much faster than Ginny would have liked. She assumed that this was largely because Easter was the only time she had to freely spend with Severus that didn't involve ruining potions or causing a scene in the classroom. Severus had merely shaken his head when she complained about this and commented that she was _'too impatient for her own good.'_ She had opened her mouth to retort but was cut short when an echoing knock interrupted their conversation and Ginny pretended to scrub cauldrons while Snape opened the door.

Not coming as a surprise to her because he seemed to have made an appearance every time she was present, Barry Binnetly poked his head through the door and began to tell Severus that he thought someone might have laced his pumpkin juice with an Aloofix Elixir.

"I don't see how you would ever notice Mr. Binnetly as you are still completely oblivious to the fact that I explicitly told you to stop seeking me out for every minor detail of your worrisome teenage life" Severus snapped.

"If you would just let me brew an antidote-!" Barry began derisively before Severus cut him off.

"If you are truly dosed with Aloofix elixir, which I doubt you are as you produced a scathing remark quite readily, then you would be in no condition to brew and besides the fact, by the time you managed to brew the antidote the elixir would have effectively worn off. If you had paid the slightest bit of attention during class instead of trying to charm Miss. Flaxen then you would have known that. Now if you bother me one more time with your mediocre concerns or if I even so much as see you again before the day's out then it will be detention for a month. Now go to your common room and stay there!" Severus bellowed, slamming the door in the younger Slytherin's face. "Little snot nosed bastard." he mumbled to himself before going to his desk and summoning a cup of very strong tea, apparently forgetting that Ginny was there.

"Something amiss in the Slytherin household?" She asked, slightly taken aback by his casual swearing towards a student, despite his evil personality in the classroom she had never heard him curse someone's name before. Barry must have severely pissed him off.

Snape glanced up from his tea and shook his head, his lip curling.

"You would think that boy thought I was his mother with the way he runs here with every little thing." He sneered, taking a sip of the steaming liquid.

"Perhaps he fancies you." Ginny said cheekily.

Severus choked and spit his tea across the table while his shoulders shook with wracking coughs.

"What?" He managed to sputter. Ginny noticed that his voice was several octaves higher than normal and it was all she could do to keep from laughing. "Tell me you didn't just suggest what I thought you did."

"Well, you know, he does seem a bit obsessed with you and I have noticed that _'Miss Flaxen'_ stares at you a lot more than normal. Perhaps their discussing ways to make you theirs." She rambled nonchalantly. Severus seemed paler than normal, which was saying something. He opened his mouth, maybe to say it was impossible for a student to fancy a teacher but then quickly shut it again. She raised an eyebrow in a perfect imitation of him and he found his voice again.

"Not only in this subject completely inappropriate, it is also extremely disturbing and perverse." He said curtly.

"Find it hard to believe that a student could fall for you?" She asked.

"With the exception of one who must be oblivious to all warning signs? Impossible." He replied slyly. Ginny smirked and made her way to him, leaning down to brush her lips against his.

"You know…" She said between kisses. "I'm getting tired… of doing all the work… myself."

"Not nearly… as tired as… I am." he responded before capturing her bottom lip in his teeth and biting gently. Ginny perched herself on the edge of his desk but he growled his disapproval and pulled her into his lap, something he was beginning to make a habit of. She gasped at the unexpected movement and broke the kiss out of shock. Severus made a disappointed noise but when she leaned against him and tucked her head in the crook of his neck he didn't hesitate to rest his cheek against her hair.

"If it were Saturday again I wouldn't have to leave so early in order to get back to the common room." She said resentfully. Snape chuckled dryly beneath her. "What?" She asked.

"Saturday you would have given anything for it to be summer and now that it's Monday and considerably closer to that goal you want to go back to Saturday." he commented.

"Well, August would be preferable but since you pointed out on Friday that I have exams to study for I figured that I should at least wait until they're over before I pine over summer too badly." She explained.

"Enough." Severus said amiably. "Get back to your dormitory and get some sleep. It's Monday and classes resume tomorrow. I'll be disappointed if you get detention for falling asleep in class instead of the insult you promised me. Besides, stay much longer and your delightful friends will wonder where you've gotten to." He finished sourly.

"I suppose." She agreed, pressing a quick kiss to his lips before climbing out of his lap. True to her word, Ginny still hadn't told Severus that Anna knew most of the details about their odd relationship. "You're right." She admitted. "I'll see you in class tomorrow."

"And detention if you have the guts to go through with it." He commented, his eyes mischievous.

"Don't you worry about that." She said, making her way to the door. "You're going to get what's coming to you."

"We'll see." He said emotionlessly. "Good night."

XXX

"Miss. Weasley, is there any reason that you are not paying attention?" Professor McGonagall asked tartly. Ginny snapped out of her mental insult quest and blushed shamefully.

"Sorry professor." She apologized.

"I would think so Miss. Weasley, if you truly intend to continue committing to animagus classes as much as you have then you should most certainly pay attention during transfiguration."

"Sorry professor." She repeated. McGonagall nodded and continued explaining to the class how to transform their puppies into kittens. Ginny wondered briefly if it was more than co-incidence that they were changing puppies to kittens and not the other way around. When her thoughts drifted back to suitable insults for Severus she gave her head a quick shake. She had to pay attention. Quietly she got Anna to repeat McGonagall's instructions and set to work. She would just have to improvise with the insults; after all, exams were less than ten weeks away, as much as she hated to admit it. It was more than likely that she would need to know this.

By the time class was over Ginny had managed to produce a black kitten with droopy ears and puppy dog eyes that whined while wagging its tail at her.

"Time to clean up. Those of you who were successful can leave your kittens behind, they will go to a good home and I will dispose of the animals that are mid-way transformed. Class dismissed." McGonagall instructed.

Ginny took another look at the puppy cat before deciding to lag behind. When all of the other students had left McGonagall looked up from her desk.

"Is there something you wanted Miss. Weasley?"

"Yes professor." She answered, picking up the furry creature who purred and licked her finger while wiggling in an excited puppy way. "I was just wondering if I could keep him."

"You do realize that he is only effectively 85 cat, don't you?" She asked. Ginny nodded and McGonagall considered her for a moment. "What subject do you have next?"

"Potions Ma'am."

"Professor Snape will not appreciate an animal in his class." She began sternly. "I will have a house elf take him to your room."

"Thank you professor." Ginny said excitedly. "Be good while I'm gone." She told the nameless animal before swinging her bag onto her shoulder and heading towards the dungeons.

XXX

Snape watched as the sixth years filed into his classroom, his keen eyes were quick to pick out that Ginny was not amongst them.

"Take your seats!" He snapped to the chatting crowd that immediately quieted and seated themselves. "Today you will all be brewing the curative elixir that is used to counteract dragon pox. Despite dragon pox's horrible reputation the elixir that treats it is fairly simple yet rather expensive to brew. That is why four of you will be working at one cauldron. Rest assured that if any of you wastes the slightest bit of Thestral Gall or Grindelow horn the money to replace it will come from your own pockets and you will receive a weeks worth of detentions with Filch." He warned. The class seemed to gulp collectively before their attention was diverted to the door. Snape followed their gaze to see a short winded Ginny standing in its frame.

"How nice for you to grace us with your presence, Miss. Weasley. Ten points from Gryffindor for your lateness, now take your seat." He said icily. Ginny raised her eyebrows in a cheeky way that the class would take as shock before going silently to her seat. Snape followed her with his eyes, he had suspected that her absence signified an unwillingness to go through with her plan but the way she raised her eyebrows and took the deduction of points without question made him think that something besides a potion was brewing.

"Do not just stare! Get to work!" He snapped at the class before beginning his routine of prowling the aisles and inspecting all of the potions, all the while keeping a curious eye on Ginny when he felt that no one would notice.

Near the halfway point of the lesson Snape began to notice that Ginny was also watching him past the confused face of Tia Fatopeh and despite Miss. Awlyr's warning elbows to the ribs was adding ingredients too early, all the while making sure to catch his eye.

Schooling his features into a stern expression he swept towards their back table and smoothed his robes before crossing his arms over his chest.

"What are you doing Miss. Weasley?" He asked dangerously.

"Brewing." She answered curtly, stirring the mixture quicker than the instructions required.

"You are not brewing you are slopping together a travesty and ruining your group's potion." He snapped, watching as she slipped him a sidelong glance.

"I'm just speeding up the process." She answered.

"Timing is essential in potions Miss. Weasley, I'd think a sixth year would know that by now." He sneered. Ginny shrugged and reached for the phial of thestral gall, ignoring Anna's whispered pleas to stop. As she uncorked the phial and held it poised to pour into the potion when Snape quickly grasped her wrist. "You were explicitly told not to waste this." He growled.

"Let go!" She demanded as he pried the phial from her grasp.

"Twenty points from Gryffindor for purposefully wasting ingredients. The three of you can attempt to brew this on Sunday." He instructed, watching Ginny rub her wrist before turning to sweep back to his desk.

"Pervert." He heard her mutter, causing him to freeze in his tracks. The room was deathly silent as he turned to glare at her. _She would say something like that_, _even though she knew how he felt about her being underage? Even after he had expressed the need to wait until her birthday?_ He felt a familiar anger burn inside him as his lip curled.

"Detention," He hissed, ignoring the triumphant look in her eyes, "with Filch." The look quickly faded and he turned his back on her. "Those of you who have finished brewing leave your samples on my desk, the rest of you receive zero. Class dismissed." He snarled, disappearing through his office door.

XXX

Ginny stared at the door to Snape's office in shock. _With Filch?_ The whole point of this insult idea was to get detention with him, why had he given her detention with Filch?

"Ginny why did you do that?" Anna asked grumpily. Ginny looked from the closed door to her friend.

"We planned for me to insult him so that he could give me detention but it wasn't supposed to be with Filch." She ranted, anger taking over her voice as she violently packed her things into her bag. "I don't know what the fuck his problem is, I told him I was going to do this."

"You mean all of that between you two was an act?" Anna asked incredulously. Ginny nodded.

"Well, at least I thought it was. Apparently he's too high and mighty to be insulted. He knows it I didn't mean it, it's not like I did anything wrong."

"Ginny," Anna began tentatively."

"Touchy git." Ginny mumbled to herself, altogether oblivious that Anna was trying to speak. Anna shook her head, seeing that there was no reasoning with the girl and silently left the room.

Ginny continued to grumble to herself before approaching Snape's door. She rapped angrily on its surface and waited, intending to give the man a piece of her mind but no answer came.

"Severus Snape you open this door." She yelled, pounding on the wood but he still didn't answer and not a sound could be heard from within. "Fine, you know what? Sit in there and sulk, see if I care, if you want to work this out you can come find me." She yelled, turning on her heel she stalked out of the room, knowing he hadn't heard her and had probably long ago went to his chambers.

XXX

Ginny regretfully attended her detention with Filch, mopping the enormous floor of the great hall with haste but pretending to take great care whenever Filch looked up from his newspaper.

"I'm finished." She finally announced nearly two hours later. Filch folded his paper and rose, leaving it on his vacant chair. He took the mop from her rather roughly while examining the floor with a frown.

"Fine then," He wheezed, apparently finding nothing wrong with her clean up job but still looking very sour. "Back to your common room with you."

Ginny didn't wait to be dismissed twice, exiting the great hall she headed straight for Gryffindor tower and marched into the common room, throwing herself angrily into the nearest chair. Anna saw her enter and quietly came to sit beside her.

"Detention fun?" She asked. Ginny glared at her before turning her gaze to the fire. Anna sighed with exasperation, cast a charm to prevent eavesdropping and continued in hushed tones. "Why on earth did you have to call Snape a pervert, Ginny?"

"I already told you, we planned the whole thing, lot of good it did too."

"No, that's not what I meant, why did you choose pervert specifically? Couldn't you have chosen some other insult? Like toe rag or troll boogie? Greasy Bat would have been better, even if it is overused."

"What does it matter? I was only supposed to insult him, it doesn't matter what I said."

"Yes it does! Snape was probably expecting git, or even bastard! Did you even think it through?"

"What are you talking about?"

"C'mon Ginny, you're the one who told me Snape has a problem with your age. Calling him a pervert is only going to make him think you have a problem with it as well."

"That's ridiculous; He knows I didn't mean it." She said dismissively but Anna continued on.

"Ginny, the mind doesn't work that way, of course he knows you didn't mean it, but you know Snape! He'll let his anger get him carried away until he convinces himself that you meant it. I can't believe I'm going to suggest this but you should probably go talk to him."

"Sod that, if he wants it resolved he can come find me. I followed the rules. _Detention with Filch._ What a stupid waste of time." She grouched. Anna finally realized that there was no convincing a Weasley scorned and left Ginny to seethe by the fire.

She spent most of the night sitting in the chair, cursing Snape's name in anger, but in spite of her efforts something in her mind kept replaying all the times they had argued about her age.

"I've been an idiot." She finally groaned, although she would never admit it, Anna was right. She shouldn't have called Snape pervert, especially with the way he took things over literally. Not believing that she was about to go grovel for forgiveness Ginny got up from her chair and went out through the portrait hole, hoping that Filch wasn't waiting somewhere nearby to catch her.

Her trek downwards was pestered with the possibility that he might not be in his office, but when she reached his office she spotted a sliver of light peeking under the door and sighed with relief. Gathering her courage she knocked.

"Enter." His familiar silky baritone drawled from behind the oak door. Ginny slowly turned the knob and entered the room, closing the door behind her.

Severus was sitting at his desk, grading papers. He didn't look up immediately but when he did he froze and a sour look flashed across his face.

"Hello." She said cautiously.

"What are you doing here?" He asked, a cold, calm anger seeping into his voice. He was no longer looking at her but was once again grading papers.

"I thought we should talk." She offered. He didn't answer her but continued slashing the parchments with his quill. When the silence continued to stretch on she continued. "I thought maybe I should explain myself."

"You think?" He said, his voice like ice, but after slipping in the brief remark he allowed the silence to continue. Sighing Ginny walked over to his desk and gently laid her hand over his. He snatched it away as if he'd been burned.

"Severus." She pleaded.

"Professor Snape!" he snapped.

"What?" Ginny asked with confusion.

"Students call me Professor Snape, or sir." He barked, his gaze never faltering from the papers. Ginny felt a stir of annoyance deep inside her. Was that what she was, just a student? Quickly she squashed these thoughts, reminding herself that he was saying those things out of anger and if she were to get angry it would only result in a shouting match between them.

"Severus, I admit that I shouldn't have called you what I did."

"Why not?" He asked mockingly. "It seems like a fitting description."

"No it's not; I wasn't thinking when I said it. You're _not _a pervert."

"Why not?" He repeated. "After all, I'm breaking the law, running around with a girl who I hold twenty two years of seniority over. Aren't I taking advantage of you?" He asked mockingly.

"No."

"The ministry would beg to differ." He snarled.

"Fuck the ministry." She said angrily. Severus stared at her for a moment, taken aback by her foul language but quickly diverted his attention back to the essays.

"Ten points from Gryffindor." He said crisply. Ginny sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose, a habit she had unwittingly picked up from him.

"You're not a pervert." She repeated, ignoring the way his lip curled. "A pervert would have sought me out, pursued me and taken advantage of me. You have done none of those things. You tried to drive me away, you won't even initiate anything with me until my birthday, on top of that you won't even kiss me, I have to kiss you, How is that perverted?"

"I have kissed you." He argued. His hand was no longer moving over the parchments although he stared at them with just as much vigor.

"You got carried away. You said it yourself."

"I shouldn't allow myself to get carried away."

"Everyone slips."

"Still." he said emotionlessly. Again Ginny placed her hand over his. When he didn't draw away she decided to push forward.

"I'm sorry." She said earnestly. He didn't answer her but continued to stare at his desk, deep in thought.

"What did Filch make you do?" He asked after a moment's silence.

"Mop the great hall." She said with exasperation.

"It was getting dirty." He said. Ginny rolled her eyes. "But it is his job." He added, Ginny guessed that that was his way of bypassing the argument. Whether she was forgiven she wasn't sure, but he seemed ready to move on. "You should be getting back to your common room. It's after midnight." He said.

"Probably." She agreed, bending down and placing a kiss on his cheek. "Are we over this now?" He made a non committal noise somewhere in his throat.

"You really have to go now." He said simply.

"All right." She relented, "By the way, I'm not going to attempt to earn any more detentions."

"Good." He said, his hand again moving over the parchment.

"But I do think I need remedial potion lessons more."

"Much more." he agreed. "Mondays and Thursdays at eight are fine."

"OK, see you then."

"Goodnight." He bid her as she exited the room, softly closing the door behind her.

XXX

For the rest of the year Ginny attended _'remedial potions lessons' _on a regular basis. Severus slowly got over the frostiness that their argument had left between them and eventually they were back to normal.

The quiddich cup was won by Ravenclaw which caused the biggest uproar in the castle that Ginny could ever remember.

Exams came and went and with all of the studying that she did with Anna-Rose on every night besides Mondays and Thursdays Ginny felt that she had done exceptionally well. Potions was slightly easier than it had been before but was still not her best subject, albeit it was also no longer her worst.

The end of the year feast was as spectacular as ever and Ginny's trip to the dungeons afterward, although reeking of abstinence, was no less grand.

The train arrived on time as always and for the first time in her life Ginny was sad to be going to Grimmauld place for the summer as the burrow was far too insecure. She would not see Severus until at least after her birthday and if something went amiss there was no guarantee that she would see him at all. He hadn't told her as much but she knew that his summer would be spent journeying on secret missions and spying for the order. There was always the threat that she might not see him again, ever.

"Something wrong Ginny?" Anna asked. Ginny tore her eyes away from the window and looked to her friend who was watching her with concern. They had a compartment to themselves and Ginny was glad that she could speak openly to her friend.

"Just worried I guess."

"About Snape?" Anna asked. Ginny nodded.

"He's going to be spying all summer; I'm just worried that he won't come back." Anna watched her studiously.

"You know Ginny, he's been spying for years, I don't think it's likely that he'd be caught now of all times."

"Maybe you're right." Ginny said, secretly thinking that with her as a distraction he was more likely to be caught now than ever. Luckily a tapping at the window tore her away from these thoughts.

"Whose is that?" Anna asked as she spotted the fearsome raven easily keeping pace with the train and pecking sharply on the glass.

It's from Severus!" Ginny exclaimed and jumped to open the window. Teneberr quickly flew into the compartment and landed on the seat next to Ginny. The loveable puppy cat who she had named Tim jumped up from the floor and hissed as Teneberr held out his leg. When she removed the letter he croaked angrily, sneaking a peck at her hand and then launched himself back out the window.

"I wonder who he takes after." Anna said sarcastically.

"He's a nasty bird." Ginny said before opening the letter.

_Ginny,_

_You've probably figured out how I will be spending __my summer. Don't worry about it; I will still deliver your present, as promised._

_Stay__ safe and let your parents take care of you._

_-S_

Ginny closed the letter and looked back out of the window. Anna was now building a castle with a deck of exploding snap cards while Tim batted at them, knocking them over. Anna was probably purposefully leaving her to her own thoughts, which was something Ginny liked about Anna. She always seemed to know when someone just needed to think.

Slowly Ginny's mind drifted from Anna and back to the Severus' letter. Didn't he know that it was impossible for her not to worry about him? There was too much of her mother in her for that as much as she hated to admit it.

He'd also told her to stay safe, to let her parents take care of her, but who would take care of him? Would he be safe?

_Dumbledore better keep a damn close eye on him._ She thought. _After all, he's the one that Severus is doing all of this for and Dumbledore won't be happy if something goes wrong and he has me to deal with._

* * *

**A/N: **Thanks even more than normal to Masterdeeds, originally I wrote this chapter with a 'gotta get it done' attitude which made it out of character, I'm so glad Masterdeeds pointed this out for me to fix. THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS!! Also, thanks to all of you faithful readers and reviewers who keep me going, enjoy the chapter. 


	28. The Plan

**Cry Wolf**

**Chapter XXVI : The Plan**

"Ginny I'm so happy to see you!" Mrs. Weasley shouted through the crowd as she raced towards her only daughter. "Visiting Charlie without you over Christmas was just so unfortunate but we couldn't afford to take you along. And then missing you at Easter! That school might as well have become your home. Come here and give me a hug, Oh dear what is that?" Her voice abruptly changed to shock as she noticed the 'K-line', as Ginny now called him, cradled in her arms.

"His name is Tim! Isn't he cute?" Ginny asked. Molly stared at the creature in astonishment.

"Well I suppose after you get over the initial shock he is quite cute." She admitted, reaching out a hand to let the little animal sniff her hand. Tim wagged his long kitty tail furiously while purring and licking her mother's finger. "Hello Tim, you are a cutie aren't you? But Ginny, wherever did you get him?" She asked.

"I made him."

"You made him?"

"Yep. In transfiguration, we were supposed to be changing puppies into kittens but I ran out of time. McGonagall said I could keep him and I couldn't just leave him behind to be gotten rid of. You understand don't you?" She explained in a hurried rush.

"Ginny relax, it's okay, you can keep him. But you shouldn't have left your work unfinished, no doubt you were daydreaming about some boy." She said with exasperation.

"Not exactly." Ginny said with a suppressed grin.

"I should have known." She said with a roll of her eyes. "Now come on dear, your father's off finding your trunk and he's got to get right back to work as soon as he's dropped us off at Grimmauld place so we need to hurry and meet him outside the gate."

Her mother rushed her along towards the barrier, giving her precious little time to wave goodbye to Anna-Rose before they stepped through and the train disappeared behind them.

The muggle world quickly materialized around them with it's hustle and bustle of businessmen and other mid-afternoon travelers rushing their way to their destinations.

"Where are we meeting Dad?" Ginny asked, holding tight to Tim who was trying to wriggle free and run off to sniff every occupant in the station.

"Over by that blue car." Molly said, pointing to a battered blue station wagon that was parked beneath a nearby streetlight.

"Tim stop!" Ginny said firmly. Tim settled with a disappointed growl and didn't squirm anymore.

"Your father should be along any minute. Ah, there he is." Molly said. Ginny stood on tip toe to see across the crowd and spotted Arthur's balding head weaving its way toward them. When he was closer Ginny could see that he was lugging her heavy trunk and smiling broadly at them.

"Ginny dear! It's so good to see you!" He exclaimed, wrapping his free arm around her in a cautious hug so he could avoid crushing Tim. "Who's you friend?" He asked after he had pulled out of the hug and begun to lead them towards an alleyway a short distance from the car.

"His name is Tim, I made him in transfiguration." Ginny answered as they all stepped into the ally, away from prying eyes.

"Didn't finish eh?"

"How'd you know?" Ginny asked. Arthur chuckled and scratched Tim's ear, eliciting a purr from him.

"I did the same thing when I was turning my badger into an otter in my seventh year. Her name was Ollie. Now, we really must hurry, I've got to be back to work in 15 minutes and I'm sure Ginny will be happy to see her surprise at Grimmauld."

"Surprise?" Ginny asked.

"Arthur, you weren't supposed to tell her!" Molly said.

"Oops, silly me I forgot, would you hold this for me Molly dear?" He was holding out something small that looked strangely like a candy wrapper.

"Honestly Arthur," Molly rambled, not looking to see what she was taking, "I ask you to keep one little thing quiet and you blurt-" Her speech was abruptly cut short when she completely took the wrapper from Arthur and disappeared into thin air.

Ginny stared at where her mother had been standing moments before while she tried to figure out what had happened. Arthur was chuckling jovially behind her and continued to do so until she turned around.

"Portkey." He explained, "That's how we're getting to Grimmauld but Molly didn't know that I had two. I thought I'd play a little prank on her before I had to go back to work."

Ginny laughed. "She'll be cross with you." She pointed out.

"Probably." He agreed. "But she'll have cooled down by the time I get home."

"Maybe, so… what's my surprise?" She asked innocently but Arthur shook his head.

"No, I've said enough, now we've got to hurry, quick, grab onto this." He held out a battered muggle pen, she took hold of it and they both stood there, each holding onto an end of the pen looking foolish to the muggles passing by.

"Three… two… one." Arthur counted and Ginny felt the odd pull at her navel and held tighter to Tim so she wouldn't lose him.

When the world stopped spinning Ginny landed not so gracefully on her backside while her father landed easily next to her and, with a kind smile, stooped to help her up.

"Thanks Dad."

"You're welcome dear, hold tight to that little critter until we're inside." He said, leading her towards the doorway and heaving her trunk up the stairs.

Ginny followed and the two quickly ducked into the house.

"Arthur Weasley that was an awful trick to play!" Molly's stern voice immediately met their ears and Ginny was quick to spot her mother in the hallway with her hands planted firmly on her hips. Arthur was quick to drop Ginny's trunk.

"Jus a small prank Molly dear, really must be getting off to work now, I'll see you tonight." He said in a rush and then hurried out the door.

"How could I ever wonder where Fred and George got it from? Sending me off by portkey by myself and startling me half to death." Molly muttered to herself, shaking her head at the closed door. Ginny suppressed a smile as she imagined what her dad might have pulled in his Fred and George-ish younger days when she suddenly remembered what she had been so excited about.

"Mom, where's my surprise?" she asked, setting Tim down and letting him bound off down the hall and into the kitchen, his kitty tail held high in the air. Mrs. Weasley smiled mischievously, making Ginny think that Fred and George didn't get it all from their father.

"In the den dear. You go see while I take your trunk upstairs." She said while casting a quick levitation charm onto the trunk.

"Thanks mom!" Ginny said then raced passed her mother and into the den.

"Ron!" She exclaimed. "You're home!"

"Hi Ginny." Ron said, looking slightly out of place behind a large pile of open books that were spread across the entire table. Ginny ran over and latched Ron into a tight hug.

"It's good to see you! I haven't even heard from you since you and Hermione ran off to help Harry find the horcruxes! Wait, if you're back does that mean Voldemort is dead? Is Harry here? Where's Hermione?" She rambled.

"Ginny slow down, You-Know-Who isn't dead." He said, there was a tired edge to his voice that suggested he could wish for nothing more than the dark lord to perish and life to go back to normal. "Harry's not here either." He admitted, the tiredness was replaced by wariness, almost as if he expected her to burst into tears. She could only imagine the fury his voice would hold if he knew who she'd gotten over Harry with.

"But is Hermione here?" She asked. Ron seemed surprised that she'd brushed over the subject so quickly but didn't comment. "Well?" Ginny persisted.

"She most certainly is." A voice said from behind them.

Ginny whirled around and there was Hermione, setting two glasses of ice tea onto the table in the precious space available between the many books strewn across it. Once the drinks were put aside Ginny gifted Hermione with an identical hug that she had Ron.

"I've missed you both."

"We've missed you too." Hermione said.

"Yeah." Ron agreed. "I wish we could have gone back to Hogwarts this year but we've had to help Harry."

"Don't make it sound like such a chore Ron! Helping Harry is more important than school. If we don't help defeat Voldemort now there won't be a Hogwarts to go back to." Hermione said sternly.

"I know Hermione but it's not exactly enjoyable, besides, it's not like I'm going to quit or something." He said indignantly. Hermione rolled her eyes and opened her mouth to retort and Ginny figured that she'd better jump in before they began bickering.

"But, if you two are helping Harry, why isn't he here? Or why aren't you off with him anymore?" She asked. Ron suddenly fell quiet and fidgeted with the page of a book in front of him. Hermione worried her lip with her teeth but neither made a move to answer her question. "Well? Why don't you tell me?" She asked, miffed about being left in the dark.

"Oh, Ginny, it's just that we're not sure if we should tell you." Hermione began, flashing a glance to Ron before continuing. "It's just that, well, we know that you must miss Harry," Ginny tried her best here to look in a missing mood, which wasn't hard with the prospect of two months without Severus lurking ahead of her. "And we don't want you to think any less of him because of what he's done."

"What did he do?" Ginny asked.

"He was only trying to protect us." Hermione continued.

"What did he do?" Ginny repeated.

"It was for our own safety."

"Hermione! What did he do?" She repeated again.

"He left us behind." Ron said from his spot at the table.

"What?" Ginny asked with shock. "But you're his best friends!"

"I know." Ron said.

"You're not explaining it very well Ronald." Hermione piped in.

"How could I explain it well Hermione, it's exactly what he did."

"But it's not the whole story!" She objected. "Look Ginny, we helped Harry destroy six of the seven horcruxes; the only one left is Nagini, Voldemort's snake. Harry's left us behind because he thinks it's too dangerous for us to go with him. He's trying to protect us."

"His hero complex is acting up again is what's happening." Ron said sourly.

"Ron is sore about the entire thing. He thinks we've been in danger so much that it would be unlikely for us to die now."

"Statistically speaking it is."

"Statistically speaking it is even more likely for us to die now because this situation is even more dangerous than the previous!" Hermione snapped back.

The two quickly dissolved into another argument and Ginny left them to it, knowing that there would be no pulling them out of it until they'd worn themselves out. Exiting the room she wandered into the kitchen where she found her mother cooking dinner.

"Were you happy to see Ron and Hermione, dear?" Molly asked while she stirred a pot of deliciously bubbling beef stew.

"Yea." She answered. "It's good to see them after so long but they're arguing again now." Molly took on a knowing look and a small smile tugged at her lips.

"Yes they're like an old married couple." She agreed. Ginny smirked at her mother's attempt to be secretive. It was blatantly obvious that she thought they were together, suspicions aside they probably were.

"Mom?"

"Yes dear?"

"If Harry left Ron and Hermione behind, why aren't they trying to find him?" She asked. Molly gave the stew one last stir before flicking her wand so that it ladled itself into bowls and two of them floated away towards the living room. (Which was now silent and bicker free.) The other two bowls placed themselves at the table, one in front of Ginny and the other in the space next to her.

"They know where he is." She answered. "Moody tracked him down for them nearly a week ago."

"Then why haven't they gone to help him?" Ginny asked incredulously. Molly sighed.

"Ginny, Harry hasn't had a lot of things go his way in his lifetime. I think Ron and Hermione are respecting his wishes more than anything, but that doesn't mean they've stopped helping him. They've been researching advanced magic and owling it to him for days now.

"And what does Harry think of that?"

"He doesn't owl them back." Molly said, as gently as she could. Ginny ate her stew in silence, remembering her dream from so long ago. Harry wasn't only refusing to return for her. He'd pushed Ron and Hermione away as well. "I think they'll go to him in the end, when they know he's going to act they'll go to fight." Molly said with a small smile of sad acceptance on her face. "Why don't you go unpack your things dear, I'll take care of the dishes." She said, rising from her seat and taking away Ginny's dirty dish.

Recognizing that her mother wanted to be alone Ginny trudged from the kitchen and up to her room.

Tim, somehow knowing that it was her bed, had curled up on her pillow and was purring in his sleep. Ginny smiled at the K-line and muttered 'little rascal' before going to the trunk and unloading all of her possessions, her mind reeling over the new information she'd gathered as she placed everything onto it's rightful shelves.

XXX

Midway through July the tension in the house seemed to rise. Ron and Hermione were on edge most of the time and when Ginny would sometimes help them with their research she noticed that there were dark circles under both of their eyes and they seemed more than a little stressed.

'Mad Eye' Moody was making a lot more appearances in the house and so was Dumbledore. Most often the two could be found conversing seriously in a corner of the kitchen farthest from the pantry so that she couldn't _overhear_ them whenever she went to get a snack.

Sometimes her father would be sitting with them or Kingsley and sometimes Tonks but as much as Ginny wished she could catch Dumbledore alone and somehow discreetly ask about Severus, he was always wearing a comforting 'be patient' look whenever he glanced at her but other than that kept his distance. At least she could take that to mean nothing had gone wrong.

Although he was a member of the order, Ginny had not seen Severus entering or leaving Grimmauld all summer, but she knew that he'd been there because when her mother and father discussed the meetings that took place after she was 'banished' to her room for the night she could always hear his name muttered among the others.

Despite the drama in the house, Tim was growing like a weed. It seemed the dog parts of him that had been left over controlled his size because he was nearly up to her knee and still growing.

"Tim, sit still!" Ginny scolded about a week before her birthday as she wrestled with the critter while picking burdocks from the backyard out of his fur. Tim whined but settled down and grumpily let her pull the burdocks from his fur.

"Why on earth are you doing that by hand baby sister?" George asked as he waltzed into the kitchen.

"Let's see some wand waving!" Fred agreed, close on his brother's heels as he too strolled into the room.

"You both know I'm still underage." She grouched, wrenching another burdock from Tim's fur.

"Ah, so true." Fred sighed.

"You could help." Ginny said contemptuously. George opened his mouth, most likely to say something smart when Mrs. Weasley entered the kitchen and interrupted them.

"Hello dears," She said to the twins. "When did you get here?"

"Just now, actually." Fred answered. "Thought we'd pop in for a visit." George agreed.

"Well behave yourselves. Remember what happened when-" but whatever was supposed to be remembered was cut short when they heard the front door close and frantic footsteps hurried down the hall, pausing for only a fraction of a second before the door to the kitchen burst open and Snape was revealed, slightly dishevelled but his same intimidating self. His eyes roamed from Fred to George to Molly, then lingered on Ginny before flicking back to Molly.

"Where is Dumbledore?" He demanded.

"Severus!" Molly said, flabbergasted. "What are you doing here?"

"Where is Dumbledore?" Severus repeated.

"At the school I suppose." Molly said, still off set from his sudden entrance.

"No he's not, I was just there." He said irritably. In a flash he snapped his wand towards the window and something silvery, four legged and massive erupted from its tip and leapt through the paned glass without shattering it. Ginny squinted, trying to figure out what it could be, but it was gone before she had the cahnce.

"What's going on?" Fred asked, his gaze snapping from the window to his former professor.

"Get the rest of the order here and fast." Snape instructed, as if not a day had passed since Fred had been his student. To Ginny's surprise Fred opened his mouth, changed his mind, went to the hearth and began flooing people.

"What's happened?" George picked up where his twin left off.

"You'll find out as soon as the rest of the order gets here and not a moment before." he drawled, clearly annoyed. George looked taken aback for a moment but then went to sit at the table while Fred continued contacting members and Molly stood awkwardly in the center of the room.

"Right then." She said, snapping out of her trance. "Ginny, bed."

"What?" Ginny exclaimed.

"You heard me."

"But I want to stay!"

"You're too young." Her mother snapped.

"By a week! Besides, I'm de-burdocking Tim!" she argued. Molly flicked her wand and the K-line was instantly burdock free.

"There, it's done."

"But Mom, I want to know what's going on! I hate being left in the dark, why can't I join the order, Ron and Hermione are in it." She said.

"Ron and Hermione are of age, you aren't!"

"But-"

"Your mother is right." Severus suddenly interjected. He paused in the pacing he had begun, "Let your parents and the rest of the order take care of this." The intensity of his gaze was a barefaced reminder of his end of school letter and the second of two simple requests he'd asked of her. _Stay safe and let your parents take care of you._ Ginny stared him in the eye, hoping that right now he'd have the insight to use Legilimency.

"Fine, I'll go to bed." She sighed while clearly picturing the hallway closet and having every intention of hiding there until the meeting was over.

"Say goodnight to your nightlight for me." Fred quipped as he pulled his head out of the fire for the last time, finally finished flooing. Ginny felt her face heat as she marched past Severus, who had raised a questioning brow before resuming his trek back and forth.

Fred and George's chuckles were drowned by the roaring of the floo and then abruptly cut off by the closing door as she left the kitchen, hung a left and prepared to possibly spend the next few hours huddled among disregarded and ancient Black family coats.

XXX

When pacing began to give him a headache Severus sat himself in a chair and traced his mouth with one long finger in contemplation. It took minutes for the order to arrive but in his impatience it seemed like forever. Surprisingly, Dumbledore was the last to arrive, and was looking confused for an uncommon change.

"Severus, what has happened?" He asked, pulling up the hem of his robes as he sat at the table.

"The dark lord has called all of his death eaters away from the ministry and all of their respective assignments." He said, pinching the bridge of his nose. "He's planning a full scale attack on an all muggle village on the outskirts of London; they're due to begin at noon tomorrow." He rose to pace again, willing to put up with the headache in order to alleviate his restlessness. He took a few trips back and forth before halting in the middle of the room, arms crossed over his chest as he thought.

Everyone at the table looked shocked before they all spoke at once in such a variety of tones and opinions that not a word could be distinguished.

"Quiet, quiet." Dumbledore said. "We mustn't jump into this with wild suggestions, If we remain calm we can prevent this."

"No." Severus said sharply.

"Beg pardon?" Dumbledore asked.

"We can't, the Dark Lord didn't tell anyone but me, and if the order interferes in this at all he'll know that I'm the leak."

"And you'd rather let all those muggles die to save your own skin? How predictable." Moody growled.

"Alastor." Dumbledore shouted but something in Severus snapped and he exploded before Dumbledore's warning could sink in.

"If it meant that the Dark Lord would die with me then I would let the order interfere Mad Eye! But this is only a demonstration and Nagini is not dead! He cannot die!" In his fury he was advancing on Moody and drawing his wand, his hand shaking as his anger got the best of him on this rare occasion. "I have worked since before the Dark Lord fell for the first time to foil him, I have never given you reason not to trust me and you still continue to question my loyalty!"

"Once a death eater always a death eater." Moody snarled, ignoring the wand pointed between his eyes and staring coldly at Snape.

"You're a paranoid old man who'd imprison his mother for stealing the bank's quill." Snape spat, his wand point dropping to Moody's throat.

"Severus." Dumbledore said, his voice radiating authority and after applying enough pressure to make Moody flinch Severus withdrew his wand and resumed pacing.

"We can't just do nothing." Mrs. Weasley said after a moments silence where the only movement at the table was Moody's eyes following Snape back and forth, filled with loathing.

"We have no choice." Dumbledore said gravely.

"So we let hundreds of muggles die?" Moody sneered.

"The order cannot be involved." Snape snarled; a twitch developing in his temple when he looked at Moody.

"I will not have Severus' position compromised." Dumbledore agreed. "If we lose him we're fighting blind."

"Why can't the ministry get involved?" Arthur suddenly suggested.

"The ministry considers the order a problematic organization, they're not going to head off to some muggle town on a tip we've fed them." Moody reasoned; his voice considerably less harsh when he spoke to Arthur.

"But that's the beauty of it!" Arthur exclaimed; his eyes alight with a sudden brainstorm. "We don't have to tip them off, I'll just make up some phoney baloney story about one of the muggles buying an enchanted object while they were in London and that I'll need most of the day to fix the problem, then I'll call in when I see the attack has started.

"But Arthur, you'd be right in the crossfire!" Molly objected.

"I'll make sure it's the auror's first priority to get Arthur back to the ministry." Kingsley Shacklebolt spoke for the first time.

"What do you think Dumbledore?" Moody asked.

"I think it's a brilliant plan in the very least. Severus?" Dumbledore prompted.

"Definitely better than the alternative." He agreed, silently praising Arthur for his quick thinking. As far as he could see there was no way the Dark Lord could justify it as anything more than a coincidence.

"Then it's settled, I'll mail myself an owl under a fake name so an official report will be filed and tomorrow the death eater's will have quite a surprise in store." Arthur said, sounding genuinely pleased that his idea had been chosen. Dumbledore nodded and after confirming that there was no other business he dismissed himself and left through the floo. The rest of the order members bid their farewells and left as well, following Dumbledore through the floo while Molly fussed over Arthur and told him to be careful for the fifth time.

Severus cast them a quick glance to make sure that they weren't paying attention before slipping into the hallway. The image of the closet Ginny had sent him was fresh in his mind and he had all intentions of seeing her before he had to disappear again for who knew how long.

XXX

Ginny sat patiently in the closet, feeling foolish for sitting in the dark. She hoped she'd be able to hear what was going on in the kitchen but it seemed the days of Fred and George's extendable ears were still fresh in her mother's mind because the walls had all been soundproofed, leaving her oblivious to the proceedings inside.

It wasn't until she heard the whoosh of the fire through the chimney that she knew the meeting must be over and people were flooing home. With a sigh she waited, hoping Severus had understood her meaning when she had pictured this closet.

Finally she heard the kitchen door open, close, steady footsteps approach and pause outside the closet door. Ginny stood up in anticipation and sure enough the door opened and Severus stepped inside, closing the door behind him and lighting his wand to ward off the darkness.

"You understood did you?" she asked.

"It was kind of obvious." He smiled, the rarely seen expression made him appear younger even in the dim light. Ginny grinned back and stood on her tip toes to plant a kiss on his lips. There were voices muffled through the walls but Ginny thought them more towards the den and they both ignored them as Severus stooped and deepened the kiss, resting his hands on her hips possessively and drawing her towards him.

"What was the meeting about?" Ginny asked when they broke apart and the voices had disappeared.

"You know I can't tell you." he mumbled, burying his nose in her hair and breathing her scent.

Ginny sighed. "To think I'll be seventeen in a little more than a week but I'm still not allowed to join the order."

"Be patient." He said, running kisses down her neck. "If you're lucky this will all end soon and you won't have to join the order."

"Hopefully." She agreed.

"I should go." He admitted, drawing her into another kiss but making no move to go. Suddenly he broke the kiss and froze, their faces still very close but his eyes were wide.

"What?" She asked but Severus shook his head to motion her quiet. It was then that she heard the footsteps approaching.

"Honestly Ron if you'll just let me get my coat we can go, it's still cold at night even though it's July and I think I left my wallet in the coat pocket anyway." Hermione's voice echoed through the hall outside and to Ginny's horror the door was wrenched open before either of them could move and Hermione was revealed, staring in shock at the sight of them so close. Severus quickly stepped away from Ginny, releasing her waist and standing awkwardly, glaring at Hermione and daring her to speak.

"Hurry up Hermione." Ron said from further down the hall but they could both tell that he was approaching. Ginny frantically put a finger to her lips and then laced her hands together in a silent prayer for Hermione to keep quiet. Hermione snapped out of her trance and quickly grabbed a light summer jacket off the back of the door and shut the two back into the closet.

"Okay Ron, I'm coming but let's not be too long at the post office, I want to spend some time with Ginny when we get back." Hermione answered; her meaning obvious to Ginny. Shortly afterwards the front door shut and two distinct pops could be heard as the two apparated.

"She won't tell." Ginny immediately said when the silence had fallen back into place. Severus nodded but still looked grim.

"I'll see you in August." He said, placing a kiss on her cheek and leaving her alone. To Ginny his pop of apparition echoed much louder than those that had preceded it.


	29. The Gift

(Readers have been duly noted that this chapter contains adult situations.)

**Chapter XXIX**

**The Gift**

Near eleven thirty that night Hermione burst into Ginny's room and woke her with a start. Tim jumped up from where he lay at the foot of her bed and hissed, arching his back in fright but when he realized it was only Hermione he de-bristled and laid back down.

"Hermione?" Ginny asked, rubbing her bleary eyes as she propped herself up in bed and turned on the lamp, squinting against its sudden brightness. She had hoped that if she went to sleep Hermione would leave her be and hopefully prolong the confrontation until at least tomorrow. That plan, apparently, hadn't worked.

"I don't even know where to begin!" Hermione began, shutting the bedroom door behind her and quickly soundproofing it against outside ears. "Tell me what I saw isn't what I think I saw, no forget that. It's not going to solve the issue. Ginny how did this happen?" She asked.

"It just happened Hermione, it's a long story and I've already retold the whole thing for Anna-Rose. I'll tell you but you have to promise not to breathe a word. I could be expelled and the board would insist that Severus be fired." She reasoned.

"I'm not about to jeopardize your school career or see the order's only spy out of work, Ginny." Hermione agreed. "I won't tell anyone." Ginny sighed in relief and motioned for Hermione to sit on the end of her bed. She tried to get Tim to move but the big creature simply purred and rubbed his massive head against her prodding hands. Hermione finally gave up and sat next to the furry beast.

Ginny pulled her wispy bed-head hairs out of her face and pondered where to begin before deciding that as with Anna-Rose she had better start at the beginning and took a deep breath to begin the whole tiresome story. If she had to tell it again after this she might as well just record it so anyone who found out from this point could just play it back.

Hermione listened intently; she looked very intrigued at the point where she mentioned Severus' possible relation to Lily and at other points looked on the brink of interruption but somehow managed to keep quiet.

"This isn't why your potion mark has increased is it?" She asked, her meaning quite obvious.

"No!" Ginny said, scandalized.

"So you haven't-"

"No!" Ginny repeated. "I'm underage, he wasn't going to risk jail, especially now that I look back and realize that Barry Binnetly was probably spying on us."

"Well duh." Hermione said, she seemed quite upset about this entire situation. "You're sure you haven't-"

"No Hermione! I told you, I'm underage."

"But in a week you won't be." Hermione pointed out. Ginny had the grace to blush and look away. She didn't respond and Hermione was kind enough not to push it any further.

"You promise you won't tell?" Ginny asked.

"Not unless it's life or death." Hermione promised. "I'm not sure what to think about this yet but it's not my place to judge, you can do whatever you like with your time, as long as I don't have to witness it again. I'm not very good at covering up when I'm on the spot."

"Thanks Hermione." Ginny said, lying back down so she could go back to sleep.

"No prob." Hermione replied. "We don't want Mrs. Weasley murdering Professor Snape, so really I have no choice." Ginny laughed at this but after Hermione had left, the door closing behind her, the statement began to worry her. When she turned out the light she realized that there might be some truth in it. What would her parents do when they found out their daughter was involved with someone over twice her age and had done so since she herself had been a minor?

XXX

Ginny woke in a world of excitement on her birthday. Finally she was of age! She could join the order, she could use magic to hex Fred and George for being so annoying since they came of age! Best of all, her relationship with Severus was no longer illegal and certain aspects of it could now be openly explored.

Even though this thought excited her, it also made her nervous. After all, Severus was a man, not a bumbling teenager out for his first shag, he probably expected much more than a 17 year old in her year at school.

What if she wasn't… well… good? She'd never slept with anyone before and although she knew how it was done, she honestly had no clue how she should go about doing it.

Although she had tried to initiate something all those months ago, she had more or less been playing a dupe card, hoping he would take over once it was started. And despite his request for her not to be hurt, Severus' rejection had stung. She'd die of embarrassment if she tried something now and got it wrong.

The best plan would definitely be to let Severus' take the lead and simply follow wherever he took her.

"Wake up Tim." Ginny said, giddily ruffling the animal's fur. Tim yawned and stretched, his length nearly covering the width of the bed. He was a little bit past Ginny's knee now and she thought that he'd finally stopped growing. "C'mon, get up, its time for breakfast and I'm going to sneak you some bacon." She told him. Tim's ears perked as he'd actually understood what the word bacon meant, but then again he might just smell it drifting up from the kitchen where Molly had already begun cooking.

Together girl and K-line ran down the stairs, Tim whining as he went, his cat feet padding lightly across the floor.

"Good morning Mum." She said, bounding into the kitchen.

"Happy birthday Ginny!" Molly said happily. "I've got your breakfast all cooked and as a special treat your father is going to take you to diagon ally to birthday shop. We decided to let you pick your own present rather than get you something you didn't want or need."

"That's marvellous Mum!" Ginny said, her eyes sparkling. "Who's coming over for cake tonight?" She asked, eating a spoonful of eggs and savouring the flavour. Then she broke a piece of bacon in half and while her mother wasn't looking, slipped half in Tim's mouth and gobbled her own.

"Well, Bill and Fleur, Fred, George, Charlie, Ron, and Hermione of course, Tonks, Lupin, Kinglsey, and Moody." her mother listed.

"Kingsley and Moody? Why them?" Ginny asked.

"So your father and I have someone to talk to. Plus they all heard I was making airy cake."

Ginny dropped her fork in excitement. "You're not!" She exclaimed. Airy cake was Ginny's favourite and extremely hard to make.

"Well of course I am, the batter's already in the fridge."

"That's amazing! You're the greatest, thank you!"

"It's no trouble dear, now eat your breakfast and get ready, your father will be ready to go in a few minutes." She said modestly. Ginny knew how much work went into that cake, having attempted it once before and failing miserably.

"Okay." She agreed, scarfing down the remainder of breakfast and racing back up the stairs to get changed. When she descended a second time, properly dressed, Arthur was waiting with one of his biggest smiles on his face.

"There's my birthday girl!" He said jovially, wrapping her in a warm hug. "All ready to go?"

"Definitely." Ginny agreed, and once the hug had ended they bid Molly farewell and stepped through the door into the warm summer heat of the street outside. "Are we going directly into Diagon ally or are we going through the leaky cauldron?" She asked, her excitement rising.

"The leaky cauldron. I'm going to apparate us to a side ally and we'll walk from there, hold tight to my arm." He instructed. Ginny complied and in a whirl of robes the two found themselves outside the entrance of the leaky cauldron, Arthur keeping Ginny's hand in the crook of his arm in a very escort like way as he walked her though the door.

Tom the barkeeper nodded to them as they walked through. Arthur gave him a small wave before they stepped into the back ally and Arthur smartly tapped the correct brick with his wand.

"Where would you like to go first?" He asked her. Ginny's eyes shone with excitement as she stared at the hustle and bustle in the streets crowded midst. Her eye catching on an owl as it swooped into the post office a wonderful idea burst into her head. Grabbing onto her father's arm she raced forward, dragging Mr. Weasley after her until the door to Eyelops Owl Emporium stared them squarely in the face.

Ginny rushed inside, Arthur quick to follow and the atmosphere around them was suddenly filled with the wild smell of birds and other animals.

Originally the store had dealt exclusively in owls, but over the years other birds had found a place in the store along with bats and flying squirrels, which, because of their wizard directed breeding, didn't glide like their wild cousins but truly flew.

"What's caught your eye?" Arthur asked as Ginny perused the aisles.

"Nothing yet." She responded, inspecting an owl with great tufts on its head. The card on the cage read:

_Great Horned Owl_

_Bubo Virginanus_

_North America._

"Hello." Ginny said to the avian who watched her with a lazy amber eye before turning and putting its back to her. "How rude." Ginny huffed before proceeding down the aisle, inspecting owls of all colours, shapes, sizes, sounds and plumage. When none of these caught her eye she turned to the next aisle which showcased songbirds in beautiful colours, with wonderful warbling melodies. But to Ginny they all seemed showy, and moved way too twitchily.

Skipping the aisle of bats and squirrels altogether, thinking neither would have the attention span to properly deliver a letter; she went directly to the final aisle which was simply labelled _'miscellaneous.'_

In the first cage was a beautiful waterfowl, his cage reading:

_Wood Duck_

_Tribe Cairinini_

_North America_

But as much as Ginny liked him she didn't think him a wise choice for delivering post.

The next cage was labelled _'various'_ under that, _'tropics,' _and was filled with a rainbow of parrots, some of which were talking to each other about the poor quality birdseed they were fed.

The next cage held a bird with magnificent plumage, its label red;

_Ring-Necked Pheasant_

_Phasianus Colchicus,_

_India and North America._

But this bird was much too large for Ginny to keep cooped up in a cage all of the time. On from there were all arrangements of fowl, from gulls to storks, ptarmigans to hummingbirds, woodpeckers, flycatchers, a stately crow and an empty cage labelled _'Raven' _with a sign over the rest of the description that read _'on order.' _Waxwings, jays, sparrows, grosbeaks and everything in between that, in Ginny's opinion, should have been in the songbird aisle, filled the rest of the space until she came to the very end where there was a cage somewhat isolated from the others that caught her attention.

Sitting calmly behind the bars was a bird like none Ginny had ever seen. His eyes were a deep red and regarded her with interest over a sharply hooked beak that was a stark orange, slowly fading to black near the tip. His legs were long and lanky and his plumage was the deepest black except for two stark white bands, one near the very tip of his tail and another, broader band where the tail met the rest of his body.

"Wow." Ginny breathed in amazement. The bird cocked its head and looked her up and down, almost lazily, but yet almost as if he were returning the sentiment to her. Ginny was strongly reminded of Severus, smirking at her with one brow raised to amplify his point of view. When the bird rustled its feathers and hopped a step closer Ginny was broken from her trance and let her eyes fall to the card at the bottom of his cage. It read;

_Snail Kite_

_Rostrhamus Sociabilis_

_Florida, USA_

"He's a smart looking bird isn't he?" A deep and dry male voice said from her right. "Very rare as well, although I do not know why I ordered him, he has been here a long time now and no one will buy him." The man's accent was thickly Russian and his facial features sharp except for the nose which had a blunt tip and a wide bridge. His eyes were a kind brown, crinkled, appropriately enough, with bird's feet in the corners.

"He's very proper looking." Ginny agreed, glancing back to the feathered animal that continued to watch her, his demeanour mildly interested. "Will he deliver letters?" She asked. Despite how much she liked the bird; there would be no point in having it if it couldn't fulfill its purpose.

"It has never failed." He said curtly. Ginny glanced to her father who looked a little apprehensive.

"What do you think dad?"

"It's a little out of our price range dear." He said gently. Ginny nodded her head with understanding when the shopkeeper spoke up.

"I am willing to cut the price in half if you buy the bird today." Ginny looked to Arthur again who was very concentrated as he worked out the numbers in his head.

"You won't have money for much else." He sighed.

"Does that mean...?"

"It's your decision." Arthur said. "Do you want the bird and some spare change, or do you want to shop someplace else?"

"I'd love to have him." Ginny said hopefully.

"Then he's yours." Arthur smiled kindly. Ginny squealed and wrapped her arms around him in an excited hug saying 'thank you' over and over. The shopkeeper politely waited until she was done and then removed the tag from the bird's cage and handed it to Ginny.

"My associate will ring you in at the cash register." He said, pointing to where a broad woman with intelligent eyes was standing behind a counter top. "Be sure to give them half price Lucevilla." He shouted across the room before disappearing up a set of stairs.

At the counter Lucevilla tapped her wand on what looked like an ordinary muggle cash register. The cash register promptly responded in a gruff male voice, saying; _'Snail Kite, Florida import, 50 off for clearance.'_ before the drawer popped open. Arthur handed the woman payment and she dropped it into the cash register and closed the till.

"What about my change?" Arthur asked, but no sooner had he said it than the cash register mumbled _'processing'_ and then began to spit coins into a tray at its side with an audible burping sound. _'Thank you, have a marvellous day.'_ The till mumbled with a fair amount of sarcasm.

"Sorry." Lucevilla apologized. "It hasn't been acting the same since we were robbed." Arthur assured the woman it was no problem and collected his change from the coin dish while Ginny carefully lifted the cage off of the counter. The bird didn't seem disturbed but was carefully watching their path as they exited the shop, his sharp eyes scrutinizing everything that passed by.

"You really took a shying to him." Arthur said with a smile on his face.

"Well I always wanted my own post bird. Errol is getting far too unreliable. Besides, this way I'll never have to fight with anyone over who gets to send their letter first."

"Have you come up with a name for him?" He asked. Ginny shook her head and Arthur chuckled. "Well as long as Tim doesn't get jealous and eat him I'm sure you'll have lots of time to think of one. Now take hold of my arm, we're going home."

Ginny smiled and grabbed Arthur's arm, grasping the cage even tighter in her other hand and with a sudden pop they were gone.

XXX

"And how do you pronounce that?" Molly asked looking at the tag Ginny had pinned to the Snail Kite's cage. Everyone had shown interest in the bird when she had arrived home, Ron had especially marvelled over it but Molly seemed to be the only one slightly fearful of the bird.

"You'd say it Sur-eh-vez." Ginny instructed. Molly mouthed the name with a furrowed brow while Hermione took one look at the tag and the name's spelling before shooting her a meaningful look and rushing away to set the table.

"I would have guessed Sur-eeves." Her mother pondered, still watching the bird before snapping out of it. "Well, never the less, the table is no place for him. Take him upstairs for now."

"Okay Mum." Ginny agreed, picking up the cage and heading for the hallway. Surivez thrust his wings outward to maintain balance in the swinging cage but besides that it was Hermione who made the most movement as she nearly leapt across the room to follow Ginny into the hallway.

"Are you out of your mind?" She hissed into her ear. "Honestly Ginny, are you trying to be completely transparent?"

"What are you talking about?" Ginny feinted, glaring a look at her that clearly said 'shut-up until we are in my room.' Hermione seemed to get the message but grabbed Ginny's arm and began hauling her up the stairs, taking them two at a time and then rushing her down the hall before barricading them both in Ginny's room.

"S-U-R-E-V-E-S? Snape's name backwards? Are you asking for someone to find out?"

"As of today I could shout it from the rooftop and no one can do a thing about it."

"Your parents would murder you and him for that matter!"

"I don't plan on telling them so hush! We don't need the old harpy informing them who I choose to snog either." She said, knowing full well that Mrs. Black's portrait was well within eavesdropping range.

"Sooner or later they're going to find out, what do you think they'll say when they find out it's one of your teachers?"

"There's no law against it."

"But it's not very well going to be smiled upon is it?" Hermione ranted.

"I thought you were okay with this."

"I said I wasn't sure yet."

"You also said it wasn't your place to judge."

"True, and I'm not judging! I'm just making sure you understand how obvious naming your bird Sureves is. Someone is going to notice."

"You only caught it because you already knew." Ginny said dismissively, setting Sureves' cage on the dresser and opening its door, then the window on the wall in case he wanted to go outside. "Besides, with the way it's pronounced no one will ever notice anyway."

"I suppose that's possible, until someone sees the tag you've stuck on his cage." Hermione argued.

"I'll get rid of the tag then." Ginny relented, ripping it off the cage and tossing it away. "Happy?"

"Relieved at best." Hermione sighed, sitting on the bed and running a hand over Tim's soft fur, not even waking him from his sleep. "I just don't want to see you caught by the wrong person. It could mean a lot of trouble."

"I know." Ginny said, taking a seat on the windowsill and watching the Snail Kite sit calmly in his cage, ignoring the open door but watching her studiously. "Thanks." She mumbled.

"People should be arriving about now." Hermione said.

"You're right, we should head downstairs." Ginny agreed, rising from her place and following Hermione out of the room and down the stairs to await the guests.

XXX

The night overall was a wonderful success, Molly's airy cake came out marvellously fluffy and delicious as always and everyone greatly enjoyed wolfing it down and suggesting that all birthday cake from now on should be airy cake.

Ginny wholeheartedly agreed but her mind wasn't on the party and it wasn't until later that night when she lay in bed, unable to sleep, that she realized why.

She hadn't heard from Severus yet. Usually she was reluctant to deal with his loathsome bird but now she would be more than happy to take a letter from the creature. What if something was wrong? He'd promised she'd still get her 'birthday present' but he hadn't sent a letter…

"Maybe he's still on a mission…" She mumbled, stroking Tim's ears and staring into the black abyss of her darkened ceiling. Surely nothing had gone wrong, she would just have to wait and see, and most likely the letter would come tomorrow.

_**He's probably waiting until tomorrow so no one notices.**_

_But what it something's happened?_

_**He's smart, he wouldn't get caught now, not after all these years.**_

_That's the stupidest logic I've ever heard._

_**Stupid like a fox.**_

_Okay, __THAT__ was the stupidest logic I've ever heard. He could be dead!_

_**Don't get your knickers in a bunch, their harder to get off that way.**_

_Don't be obscene._

_**You were thinking it.**_

_But I didn't say it._

_**Whatever.**_

Just then Tim sighed and stretched in his sleep, breaking her out of her self-fuelled argument. Sleepily she patted his side and felt the subconscious thump of his tail against the covers before she fell into a light and un-restful sleep.

XXX

The next three days were the most worrisome of Ginny's life. She couldn't remember a time when she'd been more anxious to hear from someone or more fraught about their well being. At least when her father had been attacked by the snake she'd had constant updates about his status, but she hadn't heard a word from Severus since their encounter in the closet almost two weeks ago. More than once she'd thought about sending Sureves with a letter asking where he was but the thought that he might receive it while in the presence of the dark lord or among other death eaters kept her from doing so.

To add to her stress she suspected that the others in the house were beginning to notice that she seemed distracted. Ron was constantly asking her what was wrong and Hermione was always throwing her knowing looks that seemed to voice worry and disapproval at once. Arthur was giving her a wide berth, perhaps thinking that like her mother she had succumb to monthly bouts of P.M.S, and Molly tried to feed her comfort food at every chance she got in her own attempt to fix the problem, despite not knowing what it was.

It wasn't until nearly a week after she had turned seventeen that Teneberr woke her up at nearly four a.m., pecking on her bedroom window with the enthusiasm of someone fleeing the rapture. After mumbled proclamations of confusion and much rubbing of the eyes Ginny realized what it was waking her, rushed to the window and threw it open, never more exhilarated to see the bad tempered bird as she was at that moment.

"Lazy." The raven croaked, as if it found Ginny being abed at this hour nothing short of disgraceful. Ginny supposed a bird's definition of early was far different than that of a human's and didn't grace the raven's insult with a reply.

"Have you got a letter for me?" She asked it, despite the fact that she could see parchment tied securely to its leg. Teneberr hissed and rasped 'idiot' before holding its leg out with obvious impatience. Ginny carefully took the letter away from the bird who only managed to jab her fingers once on the retreat before launching towards to Sureves' cage where it stared down through the bars at the snail kit with a short growl of disapproval.

Sureves snapped his beak and glared back at the raven, the feather's on its head rising in warning. When the raven ignored the threat Sureves screeched and spread his wings wide threateningly. Teneberr took the warning this time and arrogantly raised a foot to scratch his head before lazily swooping out the window.

Apparently Severus had told the bird not to wait for a reply.

When Sureves calmed down, Ginny turned her attention to the letter. She nearly ripped the parchment in her excitement to break the seal but managed to unfold it safely and set to reading.

_Ginny,_

_I know this is late but it is easy to lose track of the date when abroad._

_If you come tonight, you can stay until Tuesday. A belated birthday is better than none._

_I'll let you decide what to tell your parents._

_-S.S_

Grinning with glee Ginny quickly fetched a piece of parchment and scribbled a false note as fast as she could. Making her parents think she was at Anna-Rose's would be the easiest way to sneak off. She'd been there frequent enough that her mother and father never saw her off anymore and it would be easy to floo to Spinner's End instead. Quickly she checked over her penmanship, the short letter reading,

_Ginny!_

_I miss you loads! There is still a good week until school starts, want to come over for a couple of nights? If so floo over around seven. _

_See you soon!_

_-Anna-Rose._

Once she made sure it sounded believable she tapped the letter and muttered; 'Mophis Quillagua' and watched as the letters re-organized themselves into handwriting quite unlike her own. It was an excellent fake, if she had to say so herself, and in a matter of moments she was off down the stairs to show her parents. It wasn't until she was in the kitchen that she remembered it was still quite early in the morning and no one else was awake yet.

Bouncing on her heels and too full of energy to go back to sleep Ginny returned to her room and filled the time with pacing and fiddling with her books and possessions, as well as feeding Sureves his morning handful of snails. When she heard someone pass her room on the way to the kitchen she called Tim after her and again raced down the stairs.

Not to her surprise she found that it was her mother that was awake, preparing breakfast for the family.

"Mom, look what I got this morning." She said with excitement, thrusting the letter into her mother's hands and then rushing by her to fill Tim's bowl with dog food. Even though he was mostly cat, despite size and a few features, he preferred the dog food over the cat kibble.

"That's nice of her to invite you over; you haven't seen each other all summer." Molly commented.

"Can I go?" Ginny asked.

"It's fine by me but you'll have to run it by your father when he gets home from work."

"Thanks Mum!" Ginny squealed, hugging her mother around the middle. "I'm going to go pack." She exclaimed, rushing out of the kitchen and into the hall where she smacked right into Ron and Hermione.

"Pack for where?" Hermione asked her expression suspicious.

"Anna-Rose's." Ginny said shortly, bypassing them and running up the stairs.

"We've got to pack too Hermione, if we plan to leave tonight." She heard Ron mutter, low enough so Molly wouldn't hear them through the kitchen door. Ginny ignored it as she tore into her room to begin throwing things into her overnight bag.

XXX

As usual, once Arthur heard that Molly had already given her approval, he caved relatively quickly.

"All right, all right, your mother's already said yes and I don't have a problem with it, you can go!" Arthur chuckled, simply to cease Ginny's endless list of reasons she should be allowed to go.

With a huge grin Ginny hugged her father very tight. Thanks dad! I'll go get my bag; I plan to leave at seven." She said and tore off up the stairs.

"What's got her so excited? She's never been this happy just to go to Anna-Rose's."

"She's legal age now, probably excited to practice some wand waving and prank magic where the parents of the _'infamous twin pranksters'_ can't catch her too quickly." Molly reasoned.

"That and she can drink rum now."

"And fire whiskey." Fred and George piped up as they entered the kitchen, the latter preceding the former.

"I don't think the Awlyr's are the type to allow drinking by students set to return to school next week." Arthur said passively.

"Well, her older brother, Ross-Arnold, was quite the hoot. We always had some good times with him and the mulled mead." Fred said with a wink.

"And Al-Robert was just as experienced as his brother, from what I've heard, he was a few years older than us." George contributed. "Why do all their kids have A and R hyphenated names anyway?" He asked.

"That is a bit strange, I've never noticed before." Fred agreed.

"Well." Molly began. "That's an interesting story. Amanda, Anna's mother, and all of her extended family have had A names for centuries, while Ruxford and his family have done the same for the letter R. They didn't want to cause a family squabble over whose letter was more important so they used both. Their youngest daughter is named Racheal-Aidia, she was just born the beginning of this summer."

"Bit dodgy if you ask me." George said with a shake of his head.

"Thoroughly obsessive."

"Let's hope one of the children doesn't marry someone with a T obsession." Arthur said.

"Why's that?" Molly asked.

"Because one of their children would be bound to have the initials R.A.T" Fred said.

"Rat." George explained at Molly's puzzled look and all three men broke out laughing.

"What's funny?" Ginny asked as she returned to the kitchen, her overnight bag in hand.

"Nothing." Molly said, she still hadn't laughed and clearly found the joke unfunny. Arthur however was on the brink of wiping tears from his eyes.

"Nothing dear, nothing. Do you have your things ready?" He chuckled. Ginny nodded and held up her bag. "All right then, I'll see you when you get back." He said, and on his way out of the kitchen he placed a kiss on her forehead.

"See you later Ginny." Fred said.

"We really should get back to the shop." George explained, and before long they had left as well.

"We'll see you dear. Have fun at Anna's." Molly said, carrying a tray of tea out through the door.

"Bye Mum." Ginny bid, an overwhelming sense of excitement coming over her and a slight stab of guilt for having lied to them all. In a rush she ran to the fireplace, and tossed some floo powder into the flames. After a final glance to the door she clearly pronounced 'Spinner's End' as quietly as she could before disappearing into the flames.

XXX

Severus sat in his living room, feet perched on an ottoman and a newspaper stretched in his lap. The lies in the print weren't any preposterous than usual but it still paid to know what the rest of the wizarding world was being force fed. Even if they continued to ignore the Dark Lord and his rising power the stories still managed to provoke fear in those who knew what they were looking for. He could see how many would end up frightened by the occasional missing person ad, of long lists of destructive 'accidents' that almost always covered the back page in an attempt to brush them aside. Usually these reports were what he would peruse, trying to predict by the past where the Dark Lord would strike next but tonight he couldn't concentrate. He was waiting.

The roar of the floo suddenly broke his thoughts and he set the Prophet aside, put his feet down and sat up a little straighter as Ginny stepped out of the fire and brushed soot off of her clothes. The mere sight of her after being abroad for days did nothing to help him form a greeting.

"Hi." She said her voice apprehensive although her eyes were sending another message entirely.

"I trust I got the date correct?" he asked.

"What do you mean?" She asked, thrown off balance by the unusual question.

"You are seventeen?" He asked, rising from his chair and walking towards her. She set her bag on the floor and nodded. "Good." He said his stride lengthening. "Very good." He mumbled, he'd already waited too long and in an instant his lips were on hers in a desperate kiss.

After a moments' shock she returned his vigour, parting her lips at his persistence so that he could tease her tongue with his own. His hands itched to touch her and without thinking one slid behind her head, twining into her hair so that he could focus the kiss while the other hooked around her waist and pulled her closer.

"I missed you." She mumbled into his mouth, her hands had moved of their own accord and were cupping his face as if she feared he'd pull away. He growled his agreement and slowly backed her towards the wall until he had her pressed against it, relishing the feeling of her hips pressing into his and that somehow his knee had worked it's way between her legs.

"Ask me to stop." He said, launching an assault on her neck, running his lips over her skin and teasing her collarbone with his teeth, nipping and suckling until she shivered against him in a combination of his mouth and hair trailing along her skin.

"I've waited too long." She said, voice heated.

"You don't have to." He said, his own baritone clouded by the effect she was having on him, the growing sense of need that was gathering in the pit of his stomach and slowly moving downward.

"I want it." She breathed. "I want you." Her hand was now in his hair, holding his head to her throat, encouraging him. It was all the incentive he needed and in a quick swoop he picked her up, hands under her thighs to support her. The way she automatically wrapped her legs around his waist only added more fuel to the fire and in moments he was carrying her through the house towards his room, leaving her things forgotten by the fire.

Her hand was working on his shirt before they even got to his chamber and Severus had to back through the partially open door then cross the room, half lower and half fall with her onto his bed.

Laying over her, his knee again between hers, his hands left her thighs and travelled to her own shirt in a compulsion to remove it.

"I'm surprised you're not wearing robes." She mumbled as she undid his last button and he paused from hers to pull his arms out of the sleeves.

"Contrary to popular belief," He murmured, his lips against her skin, "I don't usually wear school formality in my own home." Ginny giggled with humour and nerves as he opened her shirt to reveal her bra. Quickly she sat up and threw her arms out of the shirt, as if she hoped he wouldn't notice her anxiety.

Letting it pass, he pretended her abrupt movement was eagerness and captured her lips again, his hands moving up her sides and after a moment's pause, to cup her breasts through the bra, teasing them as much as he could through the fabric.

Her apprehension seemingly forgotten by the feel of his deft fingers, Ginny let her hands roam his back, taking in his thin frame and wiry muscle like she hadn't before.

Their kiss became deeper, Severus' mouth more possessive as his hands paused to undo the bra's clasp and throw it aside, leaving her breasts bare and nipples peaked with arousal.

"Marvelous." He muttered, one hand resting on her hip, the other on one of her breasts while his head descended down her throat, hair fluttering on her skin until he took her nipple in his mouth and gently sucked it, making her moan and arch into his embrace.

"Severus." She groaned, her voice confident now, free of the worries he had heard before.

"Patience." he said, moving his mouth to her other breast and his hands to the button on her jeans. Ginny's head was tilted back, her hands bravely moved to grip his ass. He could tell her desire was overriding her brains and to witness her inhibitions disappear was exhilarating but to cause it was awakening his own need.

"I've had patience enough." She responded and when he undid her jeans she tilted her hips so he could pull them off her.

"Vixen." He chuckled, his voice deep and clouded with lust. He had barely moved back over her before her hands were at his waistband, roaming, teasing him but unsure and hesitant of undressing him. A growl escaped from his throat when she brushed his growing erection. "You're a tease." he muttered, causing her to blush and somehow convincing her to act as well, undoing the button and lowering the zipper.

He removed the garment himself, tossing it to the floor and returning his lips to hers and his hands to her breasts.

"You can still tell me to stop." He said, erection pressing into her hip and knee parting her legs, desperately hoping that she wouldn't. She seemed dazed by passion, but managed to shake her head, hands on his back pulling him closer.

"Don't you dare." She moaned, kissing him and then running her lips down his neck. "Just take me." Those words seemed to be his undoing and in hurried movements he removed their undergarments, tossing them aside as if he never wanted to see them again.

But now she was tense, nerves once again overtaking her body.

"Relax." He muttered, running a hand down to her stomach and into the dark curls of her core, running a slender finger over her entrance before slipping it inside her. She shuddered and her eyes closed on their own, a low moan escaped her as he stroked her center, waiting for her to relax.

"It will still hurt." She sighed, her hips were pressing against his hand as it worked and he realized how much it must embarrass her to admit that.

"Just relax." Her repeated, whispering in her ear and flicking his tongue over the lobe. She shuddered again and her hips bucked.

"What are you waiting for?" She asked, leaning into his caress as he suckled her ear.

"Always the feisty one." He chuckled, slipping his finger out of her, trailing her arousal across her thigh as he moved between her legs, poised at her entrance. She was trying to raise her hips to meet his. Despite her fear, need was taking over.

"Don't brace. Relax." He whispered, slowly moving into her, inching into her sleeve with as much restraint as he could muster while she whimpered and bit down on his shoulder, her nails digging into his back.

"Shhh…" He consoled, pausing inside her, waiting for her pain to pass and some signal to continue. He said senseless nothings into her ear, trying to ignore where she had left tooth marks in his flesh until finally her hands slackened and her nails removed themselves from his skin.

"Shhh…" He repeated, guiding her to wrap her legs around his waist with gentle nudges from his hand, running kisses down her neck.

When he felt it was safe he chanced a move inside her, prepared to wait again if she cried out. To his surprise she tightened her legs around him and moaned, although she was still biting her lip. Slowly he moved again, setting a slow rhythm, rocking against her, nearly drawing out and then easing back in.

"More." She groaned, her head thrown back, hips moving with his. He complied and moved faster inside her, hands cupping her breasts again and thumbs fluttering over her nipples. "Faster." She moaned, her voice loud with need and again he obeyed, his speed increasing, breath haggard as he lay over her, pumping into her core.

"Severus." She suddenly hissed, her nails now digging into his back as release overtook her, hips rocking against his in orgasm. The sound of his name from her lips broke the last of his restraint and with the realization that his own release was brimming he gave one last thrust and let it overflow with euphoria as he spilled inside her, her name on his lips before he collapsed on her, breathless and sated.

"Can't breathe." she mumbled and he had the grace to roll off her. She tried to curl against him in the drowsy calm that followed but an urgent thought suddenly struck Severus and he leaned over the bed to draw his wand from his pant pocket. Ginny didn't ask what he was doing as he tapped it against her abdomen and muttered a contraceptive charm. She simply waited until he had finished, magicked the sheets to cover them and placed his wand on the nightstand before curling against him for good.

"I love you." She muttered, her voice tired but sincere.

Severus buried his nose in her hair, entranced by the smell of her, amazed that anyone could speak those words to him.

"Say it again." He requested, voice gentle in her ear.

"I love you, Severus Snape." She said, voice slow and groggy before falling into silent slumber beside him.

Severus' arms held her tighter against him, his face calm with the smallest hint of a smile before he too fell asleep.

**A/N: **New Chapter, everyone say Yay! Hope you all like it, and extra thanks to Masterdeeds, who is an excellent Beta, I owe lots to you, thanks so much!


	30. The Call

**Cry Wolf**

**XXX: The Call**

Ginny was slow to wake in the morning. She could vaguely tell that the sun was up but was currently unwilling to open her eyes.

Groggy and feeling as if her brain was short circuiting, she groaned and pulled the covers up over her head. Beside her she heard a quiet chuckle. In her mind there was a moments' confusion and slight panic that someone was in her room before she remembered that she was not at Grimmauld place.

Emerging from her blanket cocoon in one sweeping motion, she opened her eyes and saw that Severus was watching her, a slight smile on his face that was nothing more than the very corners of his mouth upturned.

"What time is it?" She groaned, wiping a rather large grain of sleep sand out of her eye.

"Are you always this delightful in the morning?" He asked, his voice was also sleepy and his eyes half drooped, she guessed that he hadn't woken up very long before she had.

"I need coffee to function." She replied, to which he frowned slightly.

"Coffee is not good for someone under 20, you will stunt your growth and develop caffeine addiction at far too young an age." He recited. Ginny was reminded very much of Hermione when she spilled out information she had stored away in her library brain.

"You sound like Hermione." She said.

Severus scoffed and his eyebrows pulled together as if the very thought was preposterous.

"I refuse to be compared to that little know it all." He drawled, his best Potions Master Scowl on his face, "Besides, let's leave outside parties out of our conversation for now." She felt his arm hook around her middle and pull her in closer next to him. She gladly snuggled into his side, closing her eyes and taking a deep breath of his scent. "How do you feel?" He asked, his other hand running through her hair.

"Fine." She replied, in almost a sigh of content.

"You're not in any pain? No soreness?"

"No."

"Good." He mumbled, planting a kiss on her forehead, and one on each eye before finally kissing her lips. "What do you want for breakfast?" He asked, once he had pulled away.

"You never told me what time it was." She said. He quickly looked at his watch.

"Six fifteen."

"Six fifteen?"

"Yes."

"Why on earth am I awake at six fifteen?" She scowled, burying her face into the pillow with a huff.

"I don't know. You're the one that woke up." He said. "Now what do you want for breakfast?"

"It's six fifteen! It's too early for breakfast, the only time breakfast is allowed to be eaten this early is on Christmas morning." Ginny scoffed, her voice muffled from speaking into the pillow.

"But you're up anyway." He objected.

"No, I'm not." She argued.

"Yes you are, you're talking."

"I'm not up, I'm awake, there is a difference." She scowled at him even though her face was buried in the pillow.

"So what? Just get up then."

"It's too early!"

"Urgh! Insufferable witch!" He growled, gently pushing her onto her back and pinning her with his weight. "Can't you see that I'm trying to be nice and it is _very_ trying." Slowly he began to trail kisses down her neck and across her collarbone, his hair tickling her skin as he went.

"Mmmm, this is better than breakfast anyway." She mumbled, lost in the wonder of his embraces.

"We could always waste time until you deem it to be time to eat." He suggested, his hand moving upwards, roaming her body before cupping her breast. His lips continued their travels back up her neck, she could feel the gentle tickle of the stubble on his jaw as his hand began to knead, sending a shot of heat shooting down her belly and gathering in her lower abdomen. Unknowingly she groaned and he chuckled.

"You drive me crazy." She said, hooking her leg behind his and pulling him closer.

"Good to know." He smirked, capturing her lips and kissing her deeply, she could now feel his hardness pressing into her abdomen. She pressed her hips against him enticingly, running her hands down his back, retracing back up to his shoulders to draw him close against her."Do you want to?" He asked, his dark eyes searching hers.

"Yes." She groaned, pressing her lips to his. She could feel him smile before his weight shifted and his arm disappeared between them, positioning, preparing and after a moment he was inside her, a groan escaping him as his eyes closed in bliss. Ginny closed her own eyes and reveled at the feel of him, she could see why everyone her age had already slept with someone by now, it was wonderful.

"Mmmm." She mumbled again, as he began to thrust, she stared at him in wonder and her ecstasy began to build. How on earth was he so good at this?

"Years of practice." He muttered, a slight smirk gracing his lips.

"Don't read my mind." She half laughed.

"Then you read mine." He growled, suddenly flipping over onto his back so that she was...

Ginny stared for a moment with surprise.

"I don't really know how to be on top." She said, feeling herself blush. Severus smiled at her, his hands on her hips as he pushed up further inside her, making her groan unknowingly.

"It's okay, I'll guide you through it." He muttered.

**XXX**

Severus watched in amazement at what was happening in front of him, well more on top of him if you wanted to be specific.

At first it had been kind of awkward, Ginny had not really known how to go about it but with quiet encouragement she had eventually caught on and was now bobbing up and down in perfect rhythm, her breasts bouncing, entrancing him as she rode him.

"Merlin's beard." He mumbled, his head arching back into the pillow, his hands pulling her tighter to him on the way down. Above him she groaned, her hands stroking his chest, outlining his sinewy muscles and tracing his nipples in featherlike trails. One of his hands snaked its way towards their joining, slowly, deliberately teasing her skin until he finally flicked his thumb over her clit, she immediately whimpered and a shudder of pleasure ran through her body. Smirking, he continued teasing her, flicking, caressing, tracing as she rode him, little electric shocks bringing her nearly there. Pulling her tight against him he thrust deep into her, making her orgasm with a satisfied groan.

Desperately close himself he rolled so that he was again on top. It wasn't long, only a few deep thrusts until he came as well, his head falling onto her shoulder with a moan.

"You are so beautiful." He sighed into her skin, kissing her shoulder, then mouth and finally forehead before rolling off to the side and holding her securely next to him.

"You are extremely handsome." She said with a smile. Severus scoffed slightly and rolled his eyes. Ginny frowned and studied his face. "Really, you are." She repeated, sounding slightly hurt.

"I'm glad you think so." He muttered, stroking her hair and giving her a tender kiss. Ginny watched his eyes for a moment before clearing her throat.

"Um… do you have to do that charm again?" She asked, slightly embarrassed.

"Oh, yes." He replied before swiping his wand off the night stand on his side of the bed. He quickly tapped it on her abdomen and muttered the spell, then returned it to its rightful place as fast as he could. "You should probably start taking the potion. It's 100 percent reliable."

"The charm isn't?" She asked, sounding slightly distraught at the thought of the charm failing.

"Don't worry, the charm is just as effective. The potion is just more practical, you only need to take it once a month while you have to do the charm every time."

"Oh, I see." She said.

"Now, what do you want for breakfast?"

"Is it past seven?" She asked.

"Seven o' five." He replied.

"Eggs should do fine then." Ginny said with a smile. Severus nodded and slipped out of the bed. He pulled on a black terry cloth house coat and disappeared out of the room.

XXX

The two spent the rest of the day in relative peace, simply enjoying each other's company. After lunch they went for a stroll through a huge forest that Severus apparated them to, saying there was absolutely no way anyone would spot them, well at least not anyone they knew as the forest was in eastern Russia.

It wasn't until after supper, when Severus settled himself in front of the empty fireplace with an old beaten book that Ginny began to get bored. She had never been much of a reader like Hermione had been. She could remember plenty of times when Hermione had harshly shushed her for interrupting while she read. She silently wondered if Severus was as obsessive about books as Hermione was. Would he be mad if she were to complain of boredom while he read? Deciding she wasn't really brave enough at the moment to find out she wandered around the room, taking in the décor.

At first it didn't really cross her mind but after a while she began to notice that most of the shelves were bare, and most of the pictures on the walls were of landscapes. There wasn't anything personal in the room, not like the burrow where her mother had covered every square inch she could with family photos, trophies, awards, keepsakes, etc. It wasn't until she reached the bookshelf closest to the entryway that she found a portrait.

The photo was obviously a muggle one, it didn't move or wave, but the woman in the picture had a small smile. She was thin, with heavy brows and a long pallid face, her complexion very similar to Severus'.

"My Father took that photo." Severus' voice broke Ginny from her train of thought and she looked over to see that he had been watching her. "It's the only thing of his that I kept." His eyes seemed far away, as if pulled back into some distant memory and Ginny couldn't help but shiver with the intensity of it.

"Did you two not get along?" She asked quietly. Severus's eyes came into focus, pulling him out of the past. Quietly he marked the page in his forgotten book and set it aside.

"Come here." He said softly. Ginny obeyed and he settled her next to him so that her head rested against his shoulder and his arm was across hers. There was a long silence before he spoke again. "I hated my father," he paused. "Besides the Dark Lord I have never loathed anyone as much as I have him. Perhaps someday I will explain it to you but for now…" He trailed off, his gaze was intently fixed on the empty fireplace, right now he was somewhere else, lost in his memories.

Ginny brushed her hand gently over his and he quickly came back.

"It's okay, I only need an explanation if you wish to give me one. I understand if there are things you don't want to talk about."

Severus smiled and his hand traced through her hair.

"Thank you." he muttered, resting his cheek on her forehead. Ginny closed her eyes for a moment and it wasn't until Severus shifted slightly that she snapped them back open, not realizing that she had nearly fallen asleep.

"I'm beat." She said, yawning widely. Severus smirked and prodded her to her feet. Although this morning she had felt fine, now, after their continued morning activities and long walk in the woods her thighs were sore and her pelvic bone was pressure sensitive and tender. Severus stood up behind her with a slight groan. "You okay?" She asked.

"Yes, fine." He said quickly. "My back is just a little off."

"Yea, I feel like I've ridded a bicycle for hours." She complained. Severus chuckled and snorted slightly.

"I'm turning in." He yawned, stepping past her. Ginny glanced at the windows and noticed that it was now dark outside. "Are you coming?" He asked from the foot of the stairs.

"Of course" She said with a smile and fell in step behind him.

Once they were in his room Severus disappeared with a fistful of clothes into the bathroom. Ginny found the nightgown she had packed in her bag and quickly changed while she waited. After a moment he reappeared, dressed in a long sleeve tee and the same sweatpants he'd worn the night she'd stayed with him at the castle. His eyes lingered on her for a moment, apparently impressed by the nightgown before he crawled into bed.

Ginny went into the bathroom with the toothbrush she'd snatched from her bag and set about cleaning her teeth and washing her face. Wearily she returned from the bathroom and crawled in next toSeverus, he pulled her close and kissed her forehead.

"Goodnight Ginny."

"Goodnight." She said, utterly content, before falling asleep in his arms.

XXX

When Ginny woke the room was unbearably humid. Sweaty and uncomfortable she pushed the covers off of herself and rubbed her eyes. What time was it anyway? There wasn't any light outside yet, how long had she been asleep? Sighing she glanced over at Severus, unlike her he was sound asleep. Seemingly as uncomfortable as she was as he had also thrown the covers away from himself without waking.

Feeling gross, her nightdress sticking to her body with sweat Ginny fanned her face and sighed. There was a window across the room, would it be all right if she opened it?

_**I don't think Severus is going to care if you open the window, you **_**are**_** his guest after all.**_

_But what if he doesn't want me to open the window? it's his house…_

_**So? **__**Your**__** point being? He's asleep, he won't even know, besides the worst that can happen is he'll close it again, it's not like this is potions class where he'd have to pretend to yell and punish you.**_

_Yeah, you're right. I worry too much._

_**Well I **__**knew **__**that already.**_

_Shut up._

_**Whatever. **_

Quietly, Ginny heaved herself out of bed and padded over to the window. After turning the muggle latch she opened it as far as it would go and reveled in the cool air that washed over her body. She closed her eyes at the gentle breeze that played with her hair and breathed a deep refreshing breath deep into her lungs.

Behind her, she heard the sound of Severus turning on the mattress and looked to see him sitting up in the bed.

"What's wrong?" He asked, quickly checking his watch before wiping what she assumed was sweat from his forehead. "It's only ten to one."

"It was too hot to sleep, I had to get up and open the window." She explained, pulling her loose hair back into a knot to keep it off of her neck. Hair hanging around your face when you were already overheated was the worst.

"Sorry. I live in the dungeons most of the time and I forget how hot it can get in a normal house, or that windows can be opened." He apologized, peeling his shirt from his body and tossing it into the corner.

Ginny was transfixed for a moment, there on his arm she could see the dark mark, obvious against his pale skin. Somehow she had not noticed it before, probably distracted by their activities but now she found she could not look away from it. Making her way back over she sat next to him on the bed and slowly took his arm in her hands. He instantly tried to pull it away but she held firm. Silently she watched his face for any sign of anger but his expression was dark and unreadable, his mouth a firm line of indecision until finally his arm relaxed. She pulled it closer so that it lay across her lap, where she could study the evil mark that had branded his skin so many years ago. The room was now deathly quiet, the only sound that could be heard was the trees outside rustling in the midnight breeze. Gently she brushed her finger along the edge of the skull, the skin was just a smooth as the rest although the edges of the design were slightly raised.

"Do you wish you could change this?" She asked softly, her eyes quizzically staring into his.

"In most ways yes, and in other ways no." He said quietly.

"What do you mean?" She asked, confused. Severus looked down from her gaze and stared at the wretched mark on his arm.

"If I hadn't joined, I could have had a life, been respected, Lily wouldn't have-" He paused for a moment and the room fell silent. He was still staring at the dark mark, as if his eyes could wipe it from his arm, erase it forever. Ginny quietly covered it with her hand so that he couldn't see it any more. His dark eyes found hers before he continued. "But then again, if I hadn't joined, there would be no spy for the order, Potter would be dead, along with Weasley, Granger, and most probably you…" He trailed off again.

"What made you want to join?" She asked.

"I was young, stupid, I thought people would respect me, I thought I could get ahead in life, that Potter and Black would finally shut up. I didn't think it would go as far as it did, I didn't think that people would die, or muggles would be executed. I was an idiot." He turned his head away from her with shame and stared resolutely out the window, as if he were counting stars.

"You made a mistake." She said quietly, her heart nearly breaking. "A bad decision, that's all. You've done everything in your power to make it right. Those who can't accept that aren't worth knowing anyway."

"I suppose." He muttered, eyes still out the window. "But still, until the Dark Lord is dead, nothing changes. Until he is gone, I still have to pretend."

"And once he is gone, you will be free, forever." She added. Severus' eyes wandered back to hers and she leaned in to give him a gentle kiss. "I love you." She said. A small genuine smile graced his lips before it instantly faded as the skin under Ginny's hand burned red hot.

Voldemort was calling.

**A/N: I have returned! YAY! Hope you all liked this chapter. :D**


	31. Gone

**CRY WOLF**

**Chapter XXXI: Gone**

Severus was out of bed in a flash. Without hesitation he slammed the window shut and latched it. Once he had retrieved his wand from the nightstand he fluttered it oddly and many clicks and latches could be heard as all the locks in the house activated in procession.

"Do not, under any circumstances, leave this room." He said forcefully, his back turned to her as he thoroughly checked the deadbolt on the bedroom door and muttered wards and protective charms while jabbing it in precise points with his wand. "Many years ago I offered my house as a resting place for weary death eaters, if something is happening they may be in the rooms downstairs. If you think someone is downstairs do as much as you can to keep quiet. Do not open the window for any reason. If someone suspects you are in this room, make no noise whatsoever, this door will only open to my wand and is protected with spells that make it impossible to blast off its' hinges. If you stay quiet, eventually they will dismiss their suspicions as false." He was saying this in such a rush that Ginny barely had time to grasp any of it over the shock of what was happening.

_He was being called to Voldemort… Her worst nightmare. _

"What-" Her voice shook with worry, Severus had darted to his closet and drawn out black robes, ones she had seen before, _death eater robes._ "What's happening?" She asked. Everything was happening so fast, he was already dressed, his mask in his hands and ready to leave.

"I don't know." He said somberly, his eyes on her. "Don't fear about people apparating into this room, there are wards that only allow me and the house elf to do so. If you need food, the house elf can bring it to you secretly. His name is Elmer, just ask for him and he'll appear." He stared at her for a moment before striding over and kissing her desperately, yet all too quickly. "I must go." He mumbled.

"Be careful, please be safe." She sobbed, tears now rolling down her cheeks.

"I will." He promised, kissed her one last time and then with a crack he disappeared. Ginny stared mutely at the spot where he'd stood, completely overwhelmed before she curled onto her side and wept. Staying true to his instruction she kept as quiet as possible, her sobs and hiccups muffled against the pillow.

**XXX**

At some point, although Ginny could not imagine how she had done so through all her tears, she had managed to fall asleep.

By the time she woke up her pillow was uncomfortably damp but at least she seemed to be out of tears for the moment.

"Well, it's light outside anyway." She mumbled, rubbing her puffy eyes.

It was eerily silent in the house and without Severus here Ginny wondered what she was supposed to do. She wasn't expected back at Grimmauld place until tomorrow night, how on earth was she supposed to keep herself entertained until then? Surely Severus would be back before she had to leave, wouldn't he?

With a sigh she flopped back onto the bed and stared at the ceiling with discontent. This wasn't exactly how she had imagined spending her time away with him.

"Stupid _You Know Who_!" She muttered, rolling over so she could get up and pace the room, making sure to keep her footfalls as quiet as possible.

For the first few minutes she just paced back and forth between the bed and the bathroom, but then boredom took too strong a hold on her and she began to snoop.

His closet was pretty standard; black robes, black pants, white shirts, a rather heavy black coat which she assumed was for winter time, a rain cloak (also black) and a set of black formal robes all hung from their respective hangers. There were two sets of black shoes on the floor, one formal the other casual.

The overhead shelf in the closet held many books, as far as she could tell, all relating to potions and school work. Some were so old that the spines were beaten and the words faded from them. Others were sturdy, their embossed letters shining triumphantly over the others. Pulling one down that was titled, _'The Effects of Polyjuice on Non Human Subjects.' _she flipped it open to find the receipt nested in the inside cover.

_He must have only just bought this. _she thought, and sure enough as she began to peruse through the book she saw that the pages were crisp and new. Quickly, she flipped through the pages as if it were a cartoon doodled in the corners of a sketchbook until suddenly the book faltered for a mere instant where the page was marked before continuing.

Quickly she flipped back to the marked page and began to read.

_Animal Hairs in Polyjuice Potion._

_Although animal hairs in polyjuice potion is not directly the subject of this book, a section has been included because of the nature of the change that will occur with the subject who ingests polyjuice that contains animal fur. Often the transformation results in a human animal hybrid, a bipedal being who has a humanoid form but the characteristics of an animal, such as snout, ears, fur, fangs, etc._

_One notable such case was Ruthmald Regress, who in 1722, was attempting to transform into her sister Grithmilda Regress so that she could impersonate her at a business meeting with the attempt to get her sister fired from the job so that she could later take it over herself. Unfortunately, the hair she picked from her sisters pillow was actually that of their dogs and having taken the potion just before entering the work site, she then frightened many witches and wizards inside without knowing that she had transformed into a dog-like humanoid. Eventually someone stunned her, and locked her in a room until she could be investigated, upon which they discovered her condition and she spent 3 months in Saint Mungo's to reverse the transformation. Unfortunately medical magic did not have the advances it has now-a-days and she was consequently left with a wet nose, droopy eyes and a tail._

_It is speculated that with much work a potion could be brewed that would transform humans into animals for a limited amount of time but as of this date, no such attempt has been made._

Ginny noted that in the margin of the page Severus had scribbled "Granger" in his cramped writing as well as a list of what appeared to be ingredients.

_lacewing flies stewed 21 days, leeches, powdered bicorn horn, knotgrass, fluxweed picked at full moon, shredded boomslang skin, Animal Hair _

_Shrivelfig?_

_Puffer-fish eyes?_

_Sliced caterpillars?_

_Daisy Roots?_

_Brewer's own Blood,_

_Slamander skin,_

_Flobberworm mucus?_

_Hmmm, apparently Severus wants to attempt creating this potion._

_**As long as he's not attempting it on me, whatever.**_

Bored with the book, Ginny returned it to the shelf and moved on to the nightstand. It proved rather pointless, its' few drawers filled with nothing but a few quills and blank scraps of parchment.

Rolling across the bed she opened the other nightstand. Inside there were only two things. A muggle fiction novel titled "Memnoch the Devil," and under that a cream coloured envelope.

Placing the book next to her on the bed and ignoring it, Ginny turned her attention to the envelope and carefully opened it. Inside was a photograph, unlike the one she had seen yesterday, it was clearly a wizard photograph. Severus was standing in it, maybe 13 or 14 years old at the time, he had an awkward teenage gangly-ness to him but his skin was just as pale, his hair just as long.

Next to him was a girl that must have been the same age as him, she was very pretty, her facial features soft and delicate, her hair a luxurious flow of red, her eyes a sparkling green. She was waving enthusiastically at the camera, a bright smile across her face. Occasionally she would elbow Severus and point at the camera but he would simply frown as if he were embarrassed and shuffle his feet slightly. Ginny thought she could see the slightest tinge of pink in his cheeks but the photograph was too old to tell for sure.

'_This must be Lily'_ Ginny thought because there was no question that the girl's green eyes were exactly the same as Harry's.

Not really wanting to think about Harry or that Severus used to love his mother, Ginny replaced the photograph in the envelope and put it and the book back into the drawer before flopping back onto the bed. What on earth was she supposed to do now?

**XXX**

_10 o'clock_

_11 o'clock_

_12 o'clock_

_1 o'clock_

_2 o'clock_

_3 o'clock_

_4 o'clock_

**XXX**

Ginny was suddenly distracted from braiding and fiddling with her hair by a loud and rather strong grumbling in her stomach. She hadn't had anything to eat all day and it seemed that her body was finally fed up with that. Remembering what Severus had told her about the house elf she glanced around the room a little before wetting her lips.

"Elmer?" she whispered, with a quiet pop a house elf appeared next to her. It inspected her with slightly wary eyes before giving a short bow.

"Yes Miss?" He asked, his voice was high, but not unpleasantly so. Honestly he was probably the most handsome house elf Ginny had ever seen. His nose was even and straight, his eyes were large but a rich mahogany brown and his skin was even and healthy. The pillowcase he wore was fresh and clean compared to the ones she had seen other house elves wearing but, on the average, it was still a little shabby.

"Uh, Severus said that if I got hungry I could ask you for some food." She explained.

"Elmer, will obey masters' orders." He replied and with a pop he was gone.

Ginny furrowed her brow, slightly confused but before she had time to think about it much Elmer had popped back into the room with a tray of food. There was a cup of warm cocoa, what looked like a sandwich filled with chicken salad, a bowl of some kind of chowder and an apple sliced into quarters.

"Thank you." Ginny said, taking the tray from Elmer and setting it on the bed. Immediately she snatched the sandwich up and took a huge bite that proved purely delicious. Elmer sniffed at her thanks and frowned slightly.

"Miss is welcome, does Miss need anything else?" He asked.

"No this is perfect." Ginny replied. "Thank you so much."

Elmer sniffed again, his frown more like a sneer this time before he popped away. Ginny was left alone again but in slightly better spirits thanks to the wonderful plate of food in front of her. The chowder turned out to be seafood, and the hot cocoa was wonderful, the richest she'd ever tasted and the apple was crisp and fabulous.

Laying back with a sigh, her belly comfortably full Ginny wondered what she should do now.

XXX

Sometime between counting the stripes on the sheets and rifling through her bag it had gotten dark outside. Ginny had found a couple candles and set them up in the corner by the bathroom door so that no one would be able to see their light through the window from outside. Fetching her wand from her bag she cast silencing charms all around the attached bathroom so that sound would not carry before running a bath and sinking into the deliciously warm water.

It was a long time before Ginny noticed that she was beginning to doze and that her fingers had pruned. Yawning widely she wondered what time it was and why on earth she hadn't bought a watch in her 17 years of life before groping around for the towel she had laid out on the floor.

Pulling herself out of the now cool water she wrapped the towel around her body before flicking her wand at the water which instantly disappeared. She had taken maybe two steps back towards the bedroom before she froze.

The doorway which had been quite dark besides the faint glow of the candle light was slowly illuminating. The darkness was fading, filling with a silvery, urethral glow before a silver doe galloped into the bathroom and skidded to a halt, its hooves making no noise on the tile.

Stunned by the appearance of the unknown patronus, Ginny stared dumbfounded as it's mouth opened and Severus' voice, stiff with urgency, filled the bathroom.

"_Pack your things, get Elmer to take you back to Grimmauld Place." _

The short message was barely over before the doe evaporated in swirls of silver mist.

Dumbfounded, Ginny hurried into the bedroom and yanked on some clothes. She magicked all her things into her bag, her mind running wild.

_What was happening? Was some town being attacked? Were Death Eaters heading back to the house? Was Severus in danger, was he hurt? Was he exposed as a spy? Was the ministry infiltrated? Did Voldemort gain some new terrible weapon? _The list of questions raged on and on and it was only when three rapid cracks resounded downstairs that she was snapped out of her trance. People had just apparated into the den downstairs.

"Hurry! Grab what you can, food, blankets, water, anything!" Someone snapped and Ginny recognized the drawl in the voice as that of Lucius Malfoy.

"Check the basement Draco!" A female voice ushered, Ginny assumed this must be Narcissa.

Below she heard a rattling which must have been Draco trying to get into the locked basement.

"It's locked." Draco exclaimed.

'Where is that blasted house elf?" Lucius drawled. "ELMER!" He bellowed. There was a quieter pop before Ginny heard Elmer's voice join the mix.

"Yes Mister Malfoy?" He asked.

"Unlock this door." Lucius demanded.

"Yes Mister Malfoy." Elmer replied. Quickly Ginny heard the door being wrenched open and someone thundering down the stairs.

"Elmer, help Narcissa pack the food from the kitchen." Lucius ordered.

"Yes Mister Malfoy." Elmer said. Another silence followed before noise could be heard in the kitchen, cupboards opening and items being pilfered from their shelves.

Crouching on the bed, lost in her thoughts and the commotion from downstairs Ginny wondered what she was going to do. She was trapped. If she called Elmer to take her home Narcissa would wonder why he had disappeared. She couldn't leave the room because the door was locked and besides, going down the stairs would most certainly get her caught. The window wasn't an option because it was also locked. Breaking it would alert the Malfoy's to her presence and even if she could get out it, it was a two story drop out the other side which would certainly break a bone if not worse, should she land wrong.

Suddenly the doorknob to the bedroom wriggled and Ginny clapped a hand to her mouth to suppress a cry. Again the doorknob wriggled, then shuddered, before it began thrashing violently from the person on the other side wrenching on it.

"Alohomora." They muttered, to no effect. They wrenched on the doorknob repeatedly before there was a thud as Ginny assumed they threw their shoulder into the door. Each thud grew louder as they put more of their weight into the door before Ginny heard an angry "Bombarda!" There was a loud thud but the door stood firm. "Bombarda Maxima!" The thud was nearly thunderous but the door did not move. "Damned Snape!" They snapped and Ginny realized that it was Lucius one the other side of the door, the man that had almost killed her in her first year by giving her Riddle's diary. A shot of fear ran through her and her stomach clenched into a queasy knot.

"Should have known that paranoid git would have this room warded up to next month." He snarled to himself. "ELMER!" There was a pop as Elmer appeared.

"Yes Mister Malfoy."

"Open this door." Lucious commanded. Ginny's heart nearly stopped, she was done for now, house elf magic could always work around wizard magic if it was to follow orders.

"Master commanded Elmer to let no one in this room." Elmer drawled.

"Open this door or I'll hex you so bad you'll wish your mother was never given permission to spawn your filthy skin!" Lucius snapped.

"Elmer will not disobey Master's orders!" Elmer snapped defiantly. "Mister Malfoy is only a guest of Master Snape, he will not intrude where forbidden."

A loud smack followed by a thud echoed in the hall and Ginny guessed that Lucius had struck the little House elf, knocking him over.

"GET IN THIS ROOM NOW!" Lucius bellowed.

"Yes Mister Malfoy." Elmer sneered before with a pop he was in the room, standing a few feet from where Ginny was. She noticed that his left eye was bruised and a small split in the skin by his cheekbone had begun to trickle slowly down his cheek.

"ELMER GET BACK HERE THIS INSTANT! OPEN THIS DOOR AND LET ME IN THERE OR I SWEAR I'LL RIP YOUR LIMBS FROM YOUR BODY! YOU'RE GOING TO WISH YOU WERE NEVER EVEN THOUGHT OF!" Outside Lucius was bellowing with rage and pummelling on the door.

"Mister Malfoy ordered Elmer into the room! Elmer is only following orders!" He shouted, turning his back to the door and ignoring Lucius continued shouts. His large eyes surveyed Ginny for a moment. "Is Miss alright?" He whispered. Ginny nodded.

"Severus sent me a message, he wanted you to take me back to Grimmauld Place." She whispered back. Elmer nodded and summoned her bag to his side.

"Elmer will obey Master's orders." He said. "Come hold onto Elmer's arm." Ginny did what she was told and took hold of the little elf's tiny arm, her hand completely encircling it. "Is Miss ready?" He asked.

"Yes." She replied and unlike wizard apparition Ginny felt as if she were being sucked into the floor as they disappeared.

XXX

**A/N: Hello all, I hope you liked this chapter, as a treat I thought I would answer some reviews.**

**Someone asked me if Anna-Rose's last name was Awlyr or Frizzen. I apologize, this is an error on my part, I forgot that I had already named her and gave her another last name later in the story. However, I like Frizzen better, so that's what it's staying.**

**Eriklefantome: Sorry, I had a huge case of writer's block, then I had work and school like crazy plus I kinda lost my motivation for a while, I am really, really going to put myself into finishing this story though, so hopefully I'll get there.**

**Sin Piedad: You're right, Severus' spying can not be helped, he is essential in every way :o)**

**W1270: Thank you, I'm glad you are enjoying the story, and sadly, no I did not get to see the queen while she was on my side of the pond, not in person anyway, she was on the newspaper front a couple of times.**

**Everyone else thank you for reading/reveiwing and thank you Masterdeeds for volunteering to continue beta-ing for me. I was told my previous chapter had multiple errors lol, but I was never that good with grammar, I was always more of a speller.**

**Ta Ta for now.**


	32. Do Not Ask That of Me

**Cry Wolf**

**Chapter XXXII: Do Not Ask That of Me.**

**XXX**

Ginny stumbled sideways when she and Elmer popped out of the restrictive space of apparition into the kitchen of Grimmauld Place. Steadying herself against the table she let out a long breath. That had been too close.

"Is that all that Miss needs?" Elmer asked, the cut on his face had healed slightly, it was still scabby but it least it wasn't bleeding down his face anymore.

_House elves must heal faster than humans._ She thought to herself.

"Yes it was, thank you." She replied. Elmer nodded and his hand raised into the air, fingers poised, ready to snap. "Wait!" She exclaimed. "Where are you going?"

"Elmer must watch over Master Snape's house. Elmer must make sure the Malfoy's don't destroy anything precious." He explained.

"But what if they hurt you? You could be in danger!"

"Elmer will not allow ungrateful inbred Malfoy's to destroy Master's home." Elmer argued, and before Ginny could say anything else, he disappeared with a pop.

Suddenly feeling very alone without the tiny elf Ginny picked up her bag and carried it out into the hallway.

The house seemed terribly quiet. Not a sound could be heard, no floorboards shifted on the floor above, no stairs squeaked with travel, and most of all there was no rummaging of anyone in the adjacent rooms.

"Hello?" She called, being careful to keep the volume at an appropriate level so the curtains covering Mrs Black's portrait wouldn't fly open to unleash her shrieking voice and sharp insults.

Hearing no answer she trekked up the stairs and into her room. As soon as she entered Tim jumped up and ran over to her, purring loudly and rubbing against her with such enthusiasm that she thought he would surely knock her over. His doggy tail beat wildly against her leg as he whimpered for her attention. Quickly she crouched and scratched his ears.

"Hello cutie! Have you just been sick with loneliness without me? Ow, you're so cute!" She cooed, showering him with affection. After a moment his cat side seemed to take over and with a 'don't touch me' attitude he bounded over to the bed and curled up into a fluffy ball.

From the corner of the room she heard Surivez click his beak with irritation that he had spent all this time restrained in his cage. She made her way over to him and opened the cage, he happily hopped out onto her arm and ruffled his feathers.

"Sorry fellah, I know you don't like being cooped up." She apologized. Surivez breathed heavily with agreement.

She quickly fed him a treat and then threw the window open wide. The snail kite squealed with approval before darting out the window, she watched him sail away on the winds, clearly overjoyed.

The bird gone and Tim now thoroughly asleep, Ginny's attention wandered back to the empty house. Where was everyone? Was there some kind of group event she'd forgotten about?

Leaving the room she crept back down the stairs and into the living room. It was blatantly empty, there were too many things wrong in this room. There was a book tossed onto the floor, spread open and face down as if it had been thrown off of a lap that had vanished in the hurry of standing.

A chair near the window was toppled sideways, and the lantern in the corner had not been extinguished. Frowning slightly she moved back to the kitchen.

She hadn't noticed before in her hurry to take her things upstairs but there was a plate of food on the table, cold and untouched. There was a pot of the same dish on the stove, it's lid tight, a dirty ladle in the spoon holder next to it.

"What the heck is going on?" She asked the empty room. She heard a thunk from the small cupboard in the corner and Kreacher's head suddenly appeared in the doorway.

"Blood traitor Weasley witch is home." He mumbled to himself. "No doubt home from some illicit blood traitor rendezvous." Ginny rolled her eyes at the senile old elf. Did he really think that no one could hear his mutterings? Or did he just not care anymore?

"Where is everyone Kreacher?" She asked. Kreacher slinked into the kitchen and gathered the plate off of the table.

"If Kreacher's mistress could see this house now she would be most displeased. Poor mistress, her house overrun by blood traitors and the _nice _Mudblood." He rambled, his lip curling on the word nice. "All planning to stand against He who must not be named, poor mistress would spit with fury." He picked at the cold food with disinterest, eating a few mouthfuls before sliding the plate back onto the table top. Unlike most house elves Kreacher hadn't actually cleaned anything in years, unless you counted when he ran around following the orders of his Mistress' deranged portrait cleaning.

"Kreacher, where are the others?" She asked again, trying to be patient.

Kreacher whipped around as if he was just noticing that she was there. His old eyes studied her for a moment before his lips broke into a feral grin.

"Does Miss order Kreacher to tell her?" He asked.

"Well, no, but it would be nice if you-"

"Then Kreacher will not say!" He interrupted, smirking.

"Fine then!" Ginny said firmly. "Kreacher, I order you to tell me where the others have gone."

"Kreacher must only obey Harry Potter! Not the red haired wench." Kreacher said nodding his head with enthusiasm, clearly enjoying himself.

"Kreacher, where are they?" She asked desperately.

"Only Harry Potter!" Kreacher said again, chuckling under his breathe. And with that he retreated back into his cupboard and closed the door.

"Some help you are." She groaned to herself. Kreacher's languid repititions of _Only Harry Potter_ Could still be heard drifting through the door.

_Surely Kreacher would tell meif something major was going on, wouldn't he? _

_**Who are you kidding? That elf only works for his own agenda. He only listens to Harry because he's magically contracted into doing so. **_

With a slight stamp of her foot Ginny marched out of the kitchen and back into the living room and quickly tidied the rooms state of disarray. Humming with boredom She wondered what she was going to do now. Maybe the school work she'd been neglecting all summer?

_Better late than never I guess._ She mused before trekking back upstairs and into her room. She had three essays she had been neglecting to write. One for Transfiguration, one for Potions and one for History of Magic. On top of that she also had to finish reading the book they had been assigned for summer break for the Animagus Club.

A sudden swoop of excitement ran through her. To think that by the end of this year she could be an animagus! Deciding that she was too excited to write essays Ginny reteived the book (So you want to be an animal) And cracked it open. Laying out on her bed she set to reading, daydreams of a million different animal possibilities bounding through her head.

**XXX**

Later that evening Ginny had put aside her book for the moment and was instead working on her potions essay. To be honest she was nearly done, all she had to write was her conclusion and sign her name at the top.

Hearing a tap at the window Ginny forgot that she had closed it to keep out the unusually chilly evening air. Surivez was at the window, wanting to come back in and roost for the night. Feeling sorry for the poor bird Ginny jumped up and bounded across the room, throwing the window open as she got there.

Surivez chirruped with delight and swooped into his cage to munch on the snails she had put out in his dish. She almost jumped back with surprise when a second owl dived into the room and landed on her bed post. It hooted deeply and held out is leg where she could see a small note attached.

"You're one of the school owls." She commented, removing the letter from the birds leg. It snapped it's beak as if to confirm her answer before gracefully gliding back out the window.

Curious as to who the missive was from, Ginny unfolded the small piece of parchment and laid eyes on the slanted cursive she had seen scarce few times before.

_You will be receiving a mode of transport at _

_precisely 7:00pm which will take you _

_to where you are needed most._

_-Albus Dumbledore._

Ginny checked the clock on the wall and noted that it was precisely seven now and then nearly jumped out of her skin when a fireball erupted in the centre of the room then curled in on itself, congealing into a shining phoenix that sang a low worried note before reoccupying the space the owl had vacated moments before.

"Fawkes!" Ginny said, clutching the side of her face with shock. "Don't _do_ that!" The phoenix sang another low note as if in apology before it turned its back to her and wiggled it's tail feathers. Knowing what to do from Harry's story of Fawkes flying them out of the Chamber of Secrets Ginny grabbed onto the feathers. "But won't people see us flying over the buildings?" She asked. Fawkes ruffled his feathers and before Ginny knew what was happening she was engulfed into a cloud of fire that did not burn her. Soundlessly she was pulled through empty space, squeezed as if in a tube. When she was certain that she would not be able to draw any more breath and was going to suffocate as a result, she was suddenly released, toppling into a heap onto a rather worn wooden floor, Fawkes perched proudly on her bent knee.

"Careful bird!" She heard a rather familiar drawl snap at the magical creature. Opening her eyes Ginny saw that she was in a small room that looked eons old, the curtains on the wall nearly shredded, all the furniture scratched, mangled and nearly destroyed. Evan the floor looked as if it had been rooted at in places, as if some wild animal had been trying to dig through it.

"Now Severus, Fawkes was merely doing his best. This often happens when the side-along is a first timer for phoenix apparition." Ginny turned her head and focused on the two others in the room.

Severus was there, his face was drawn and paler than normal. He had dark circles under his eyes as if he had not slept since he had last seen her. She could tell he was agitated, his arms were crossed over his chest and his foot was tapping with impatience. Dumbledore stood beside him, he seemed his normal self, although his face was a bit grave with worry.

"What's going on? Where am I?" Ginny asked, utterly confused.

"You are in the Shrieking Shack, dear child, in Hogsmead." Dumbledore explained, adjusting his half moon glasses and then holding out his arm. Fawkes trilled and then soared over to his chosen master, settling himself on Dumbledore's arm and then working his way up to the wizard's shoulder. Ginny glanced to Severus who was scowling at Fawkes and still tapping his foot.

"Why?" She asked again.

Dumbledore idly scratched the phoenix's chin.

"Severus, perhaps it is best if you explain? I have matters to attend to at the school after all." He said, an all knowing twinkle had appeared in his blue eyes. Severus nodded curtly in response and Dumbledore smiled slightly. "Well Miss Weasley, good evening to you," He said, his face was sad again. "Now to show you how its done..." And with a burst of flame the headmaster was gone and Ginny was left alone with the potions master.

"What's going on?" She asked.

"Kindly get up off the floor." He said, his voice still a drawl. Ginny slowly got up and stepped closer to him.

"Severus? What's happening?" She could see a flick in his eyes, was it sadness, pain, regret, worry? She couldn't tell, it was gone as soon as it had appeared.

"The Dark Lord is going to attack Hogwarts tonight." He said bluntly. Ginny gasped and her hands jumped to her mouth.

"What's going to happen?" She asked, her lip trembling with worry.

Severus sighed and ran a hand through his midnight hair. He looked exhausted, nearly defeated. "At the very best, Potter kills the Dark Lord, at the very worst, everyone we know dies."

Ginny quivered and tears began to slide down her cheeks. Before she knew what she was doing she had run to him, throwing her arms around him in a desperate embrace. She felt his arms close around her as well and his head rest on the crown of hers.

"I knew something was wrong." She hiccoughed into his robes. "The moment I got back to Gr-Grimmauld and it was e-empty! I knew something was off but I just- ch- chose to ignore it."

Severus didn't shush her or try to talk her into comfort, he just ran a hand through her hair, waiting for her to calm down. After a moment the initial shock wore off and Ginny had quieted down she pulled back slightly so that she could see his face.

"Did Harry destroy all of the horcruxes?"

"All that he could, some were already destroyed." he paused slightly. "Except for the snake, Nagini, once she is gone the Dark Lord will be vulnerable."

Ginny nodded,

_only one more, then it's finally over, for good._

"What should I do?" She asked.

"Excuse me?" Severus asked.

"How can I help?" His arms immediately dropped to his sides, where he had been holding her was suddenly cold. She looked down to see that his hands were balled into fists and when she caught his eyes they looked dangerously cold.

"You will participate in this in absolutely no manner what-so-ever!" He snapped. His tone was utterly final, which only caused Ginny to balk.

"I will not stand idly by-"

"Do not ask that of me!" He interrupted. His eyes were suddenly readable, the dark orbs were lost, hopeless and pleading with her. "I cannot go out there and play the charade of double agent whilst worrying about you! Wondering if you are dead or alive!"

"But you expect me to just sit on the sidelines and wonder the same about you?" She cried.

"Do not ask me to risk losing you, I will not lose another to _him!_" He was staring at her so intently, "please." Ginny felt her resolve shatter and she silently nodded, her mouth pressed shut in a firm line to try to keep her lip from trembling. After a moment he drew her to him again, his arms engulfing her in an iron grip.

"What about you?" She asked. The silence between them was so long that she thought he might not have heard her. She was about to ask him again when he answered.

"I will be fine."

"You can't know that."

"Just believe it, for me." His voice was quieter than she'd ever heard it. She tilted her head so she could look into his obsidian eyes, to try to memorize them, just in case. He stared back into hers before his head lowered, his lips meeting hers in a tender kiss. She cupped his face in her hands, never wanting to let go but eventually he drew away. "I don't have much more time." He apologized. Ginny nodded.

"Promise me you will be careful." She whispered. His lips twitched in the slightest of movements.

"Of course." He replied. Slowly he stepped away from her and retrieved a chunk of wood that had once been a chair leg from the floor. He set it on the small end table that was somehow massacred but still standing. "Portus." He muttered, flicking his wand at the wood. The object glowed golden for the briefest of moments, then went back to being just an ordinary piece of wood.

"That will take you back to the street outside of Grimmauld Place. If you really want to help, that's where they will be sending the injured. You can help your mother tend to them." Ginny felt a rush of relief to know that her mother would not be fighting at the battle.

"Yes, of course." She agreed, never taking her eyes from his. She watched as he flinched, his right hand flying to massage his left forearm.

"I have to go." He said solemnly. Ginny sniffed, clutching her arms around her midriff, trembling. In one large step he was in front of her, his arms around her again.

"How is Harry ever going to get to Nagini?" She asked, it seemed nearly impossible that Voldemort would let the snake out of his sight long enough for Harry to be able to destroy it.

"It is not Potter's job to destroy the snake." Severus said, his voice dark.

"Then how? Ginny asked. Pieces were falling into place, the plan was working out in her mind and she knew the answer before he ever confirmed it.

"I am tasked with killing Nagini." He said, gazing somewhere over her shoulder. Ginny shook her head, trying to shake the fear out.

_No, he couldn't, Dumbledore could not ask that of him. What did he think Voldemort would do when one of his supposed followers killed his familiar that contained a piece of his soul?_

"I can wait no longer." Severus announced. "Go back to Grimmauld and help your mother, remember what you promised me." He said, his eyes meeting hers. In a swift movement he placed a tender kiss on her forehead, stepped back and disappeared with a pop, leaving her with so much left to say.

Tears now streaming down her face, Ginny grasped wildly for the portkey, needing to get out and away from this place. She wanted to be back in the safety of her room where she could curl up with Tim and try to shut her brain off and not worry about him. Something that she knew would be impossible.

Feeling her hand finally contact with the scrap of wood Ginny was pulled from the navel through wildness, stumbling into the street on the other side. She tossed the wood as far as she could muster before racing up the stairs and into the house, slamming the door shut behind her.

**A/N: Hello everyone, thank you for all the wonderful reviews I have been getting. Thanks again to Masterdeeds for beta-ing for me :) I hope you all enjoyed this chapter!**


	33. Over

**Cry Wolf**

**Chapter 34: Over**

Inside the forbidden forest, below the shadows of the towering conifers, Severus watched and listened. Beyond the woods, on the vast expanse of the school lawn, the battle was taking place.

Dumbledore, Potter, the entire order, and various others fighting for the light were defending the castle with all of their might. The flashes of light from their many spells would sometimes glimmer through the trees, illuminating the monstrous face of his _company._

He was with Voldemort, watching and waiting, silently praying that Dumbledore's ludicrous plan would fall into place, that The Dark Lord would fall tonight, and then he would be a free man.

Next to him, Voldemort chuckled as a large explosion bellowed from the school grounds, trembling the earth beneath them with it's raw power. The screams that accompanied it only twisted the monsters face into a repugnant imitation of a grin, evil danced behind his red eyes.

The odds of this battle were hard to predict. Severus knew there were far more battling on Dumbledore's side than there were Death Eaters, but the Death Eaters knew far more advanced dark magic. They also possessed the lack of conscience required to use it. Severus also knew that many on Dumbledore's side were still students, fifth years and up who had simply refused to go home or evacuate. That, in his figuring, had put the fight as being fairly even, considering that there were roughly three people to every one Death Eater on the field. Despite the Death Eater's superior knowledge of ways to maim and kill, they were outnumbered. That is, at least, they had been , until the giants had arrived.

Voldemort had convinced three giants to join him in his cause, an enormous female and two males. They'd stormed the lawn, bellowing and thrashing their clubs at anything that moved.

Severus had witnessed the whole scene. His and the Dark Lord's vantage point was more to the side of the castle whereas the Death Eaters had attacked straight on, just as Voldemort had planned, so he would be able to watch what he was certain to be his defining moment, the capture of Hogwarts.

"It won't be long now Severus." Voldemort said, confidence dripping from his every word. "Ever since I broke the anti apparition wards, Dubmledore's _army_ has been panicking."

"Most assuredly my lord." Severus lied. Despite his hope he was beginning to worry, the giants had scattered the defensive lines as people scrambled to get out of the way of being stomped or flattened by a massive club. There was a clear path behind the giants that was now filling in with Death Eaters, advancing towards the castle. He was beginning to think that perhaps things were lost, maybe he should simply leave the Dark Lord's presence, seek out and kill the snake while he had the chance. At least that would weaken him so that Dumbledore and Potter would have a better chance of killing him.

That was when Hagrid arrived. The half-giant had erupted out of the forest on the shoulders of his giant half brother Grawp, his arms raised and a long whooping battle cry rising over all the noise around him. The other three giants turned at the sound of Grawp's bellow joining Hagrid's, and eager for someone their own size to fight they turned their backs on the castle and began running in thunderous steps towards the smaller giant.

Severus watched, sure that this would be the end of his half-giant friend. Then, two things happened simultaneously.

Where Hagrid had emerged from the forest the trees began to shake, underbrush could be heard snapping and suddenly the ground near the trees erupted into masses of crawling legs as acromantula after acromantula spilled onto the lawn, their clicking fangs drowning out the other sounds as they surged in a wave towards the giants. Somehow, although Merlin only knew how, Hagrid had convinced the giant spiders to fight.

Besides the spiders that advanced from the ground, the tops of the trees bent as thestrals launched themselves through the branches, apparently on the same mission as the acromantulas' as they headed straight for Voldemort's giants, darting around their heads in a flurry of skeletal legs and waxy wings.

As Voldemort's giants were distracted by the thestrals, Grawp was able to grab the nearest one and hurl it towards the advancing acromantula's. The spiders readily rushed over the fallen giant, injecting their terrible venom and gorging themselves on the giants flesh. Those that could not feast on the now deceased giant began scrambling up the legs of the other two, biting as they went, climbing ever higher until the two remaining began to swagger as the poison worked it's way through their blood stream.

The thestrals swarmed towards the swaggering giant's, pushing them over where they collapsed, shuddering under the waves of spiders rushing over them until they fell still.

Next to Snape, Voldemort hissed. He was perched on the stump he had transfigured into a throne made of twisted and gnarled branches. His fists were clenched on the chair's arms in rage. Severus knew he could not be very happy about the giant's death, especially with how long it had taken him to acquire such warriors.

The Dark Lord watched as the spiders hauled their kills onto their backs, and apparently having gotten the only thing they had come for, retreated with their meals into the forest to feast.

The thestrals in the sky decided to stay and began diving at Death eaters, carrying them high into the air and then dropping them back to the earth where they landed with a crunch. The tide was beginning to turn again and the Death Eaters were pushed back as the Order regained the ground it had lost. Grawp was still amongst them, lashing his feet out at death eaters who scrambled aside, frantic to avoid being crushed.

The order surged forward, gaining a few feet of precious space before it turned dreadfully cold. Directly across from where Voldemort and Severus watched, dementors were gliding out of the forest and over the surface of the lake. Their rotting hands were outstretched, already hungry for the many souls they were drawing towards.

"It is time Severus."Voldemort said. Snape tore his eyes from the battle and turned to his _master. _The smug grin had returned to his face at the sight of the dementors.

"Yes My Lord." He nodded. Voldemort smirked and hissed out a sputtered call in parseltongue. There was a moment's silence before Snape could hear slithering in the underbrush, growing nearer until Nagini passed between his legs as she headed toward Voldemort. Reaching him, she snaked her way up his body until she was draped over his shoulders like some ridiculous shawl.

Voldemort scratched the snake's chin, then turned his attention to Snape.

"Nagini is the only one left now. As long as she remains safe I cannot die." His smile was absolutely wicked.

"Are you not worried that she will be hit in the battle?" Severus asked, his voice cool and his face impassive.

"No. As you know, I am quite capable of creating spells, of leashing the power of magic and bending it to my will. As my most trusted servant and my promised right hand once all is won, I shall trust you with this secret." Voldemort's chest was puffed out slightly and Severus remembered the many times Dumbledore had told him of how proud the Dark Lord was, of his eagerness to boast. "I have created an ingenious spell Severus, in a way it is similar to the fidelus charm. As you know those protected by the fidelus charm can only be found if they tell those searching for them where they reside. I have draped Nagini in a powerful spell, those who wish to hurt her must be within my ranks, magic from any other source shall bring her no harm."

"So, only a Death Eater-"

"Correct." Voldemort cut Severus off, looking very pleased with himself. "Only one of my servants who bears the dark mark can successfully kill Nagini, any spell thrown by someone fighting for _Dumbledore_ will simply be absorbed into the magical field. No Death Eater will dare to harm Nagini, Severus, not with the threat of what I would do to them. Besides, they don't know her true nature."

Severus nodded. "Ingenious my lord." He smirked, hoping he sounded impressed, all the while marvelling at Dumbledore's deductive ability. _This is why he was so insistent that I be the one to kill the snake._

"Now, let's join in for the victory." Voldemort drawled.

"Yes my Lord." Snape nodded. In two strides Voldemort had reached Severus' side, he grabbed Snape's arm into his bony fingers. The familiar tug appeared behind Snape's navel as he was dragged into side-along appartition.

The order was now defending from two directions, the death eaters pushing in from the front and the dementors drifting in from the side. It was in front of the crowd of dementors that he and the Dark Lord reappeared.

Slowly the awareness of Voldemort's presence spread through the crowd. The dementors were the first to stop, lingering just behind Snape, their rattling breath filling his ears.

"THE DARK LORD IS HERE!" A frenzied shriek of joy rose above all the other commotion, it was followed by insane laughter, Snape knew it could be none other than Bellatrix.

"The Dark Lord..."

"My Lord..."

"The Dark Lord is here..." Several Death Eaters mimicked Bellatrix's exclamation, whispering amongst themselves and waiting for orders from their master.

"You know who is here..."

"Over there, in front of the dementors..."

"It's He who must not be named..." The defenders whispers followed, as they pointed at Voldemort, glancing between him and the waiting Death Eaters, trying to decide who was the bigger threat at the moment.

"Members of the Order of the Phoenix, Students of Hogwarts and other followers of Dumbledore." Voldemort shouted, his arms raised in address. "I offer you this chance to surrender yourselves, give up now and I will spare you all. Turn Harry Potter over to me and I will allow you to leave unharmed."

An eruption of protests arose from the crowd defending the castle, fists were shaking in the air in outrage as many vowed that they would rather die than see Voldemort prevail.

"Silence!" Voldemort snapped, true to their fear of him the crowd quieted.

"Good evening Tom." Dumbledore's voice rose over the others. Snape spotted the headmaster, standing on the steps of the school, Harry Potter at his side.

"Call off your army Dumbledore, otherwise they die." Voldemort threatened, the Death Eaters gave a cheer of agreement and Nagini hissed with wanting, eyeing all the supple bodies she could be ingesting.

"I'm afraid I can't do that Tom. I'm sure you must agree it would be foolish of me to surrender when, as you can see, we have you nearly defeated." Dumbledore's voice was calm on the surface but Snape could hear the edge in it.

Voldemort tipped his head back and laughed, the Death Eaters joined in, slowly faltering off after their master returned to his normal demeanour.

"I know you must have figured out that I'm down to only one horcrux by now old man, but I will assure you that there is absolutely no way you can destroy it." Voldemort's voice was dripping with confidence. Snape watched carefully, knowing what Dumbledore's next move would have to be.

"Actually Tom, you are mistaken. You see, you have two Horcruxes left." Next to Dumbledore, Potter's attention snapped to the headmaster.

"What could you possibly mean two?" Voldemort was mad now, Snape knew that he had been sure that all of his other objects had been destroyed. He didn't know about the spare horcrux. "I have no additional Horcrux."

"Ah yes, naturally you would not know about it, but not to worry, I will eliminate it for you. Just give me one moment." Dumbledore then turned to Potter and without explanation to anyone, pointed his wand at him. "Avada Kedavra." Green light shot from Dumbledore's wand and straight into Potter's chest. Potter crumpled to the ground and everyone fighting for Dumbledore exploded with shock and outrage, their voices melding into a hum of deafening proportions. Behind the defenders the Death Eaters were clapping, some were using their fingers to whistle.

"Well done old Man!" Voldemort shouted over the ruckus. "You've just eliminated the only person that can defeat me. Now kindly step aside and grant me access to Hogwarts."

Dumbledore adjusted his half moon glasses on his nose.

"It is not over Tom." He said cooly. "You see, there is a reason Harry has eyes so much like his mothers. He, much like your snake Nagini, was a Horcrux. That is why you can share mind space, that is why Harry can speak Parselmouth, you are linked together because, Tom, for all of these years a piece of your soul has been residing in Harry's body." As if on cue, next to Dumbledore, Potter groaned and his body uncurled from the heap it had fallen into. Slowly the boy stood up, his legs a little shaky at first but quickly steadying.

Voldemort hissed. "It is of no matter whether Potter was a horcrux or not. I still have Nagini, and she cannot be destroyed by the likes of you. No one here on your side can even so much as scratch her."

"Yes, I was thinking you might prepare yourself in such a manner. Which is why I have a spy in your ranks who is taking care of such matters." Dumbledore and Potter were now walking towards Voldemort, the crowd was parting ahead of them as they advanced towards the Dark Lord who was eyeing his crowd of Death Eaters with suspicion.

"You are a liar." Voldemort snapped, but his eyes were still darting between Dumbledore and the Death Eaters.

"Not about this." Snape said cooly. "Avada Kedavra!" He pointed his wand at the snake and the streak of green light caught it at the base of the skull. Immediately the snake went limp and slid from Voldemort's shoulders.

"YOU!" Voldemort bellowed. "AVADA KE-"

"EXPELLIARMUS!" Dumbledore's spell interrupted Voldermort's and the Dark Lord's wand shot from his hand and disappeared into the night. "It's over Tom." He said darkly.

"Death Eaters!" Voldemort snapped. "Kill them all, especially this traitor!" His bony finger pointed at Snape."

The Death Eaters exploded into action, Bellatrix could be heard shouting 'traitor' over the crowd as the air exploded with spells. Behind him the dementors were moving forward, boxing him in between themselves and the outraged mob.

"NO!" Harry shouted. Quickly he stepped around Dumbledore and levelled his want on Voldemort. "It's over, for good. Avada Kedavra!" Voldemort's corpse crumpled but even though he was dead the dementors were still advancing.

"NNOOOOOOO!" Bellatrix screeched with fury and in an instant her and a few other Death Eaters had broken through the crowd.

Snape knew he was in troubled, the dementors were nearly on him and Bellatrix and her few followers had him blocked off from anyone that could help him.

"Expecto Patronum!" He heard Dumbledore shout and was vaguely aware of the silvery phoenix plunging into the dementor's ranks, distracting them. But they were the least of his problems at the moment.

"Traitor! I'll kill you, I'll maim you and torture you! You destroyed my master!" Bellatrix was beside herself.

"Accio Snape's wand!" One of her followers, Avery, shouted. Snape felt his wand wrench from his grasp. Try as he might to catch it, it flew into Avery's hand where he quickly snapped it.

_Shit, shit, shit. _He thought, they were closing in on him.

"You will suffer!" Bellatrix promised, her eyes were absolutely wild. "Sectumsempra!" Snape felt his torso rip open as blood spurted from the gashes that now littered his skin. He crumpled to the ground, clutching his side where it bled the most freely.

"Expelliarmus!" Potter shouted.

"My wand! No!" Bellatrix screeched before she turned on Potter. Launching herself at him in a flurry of fists.

"Petrificus Totalus!" Potter flicked his wand and Bellatrix clunked to the ground like a discarded plank. She may be down but Avery was quickly stepping up to take her place, his eyes fixated on Snape.

Snape's mind was racing, he was going to die, this was it. Avery was going to kill him. Dumbledore and Potter did not have the time to reach him and if he didn't think of something fast he was going to die. His vision was wavering, he was panicking, he needed to get out.

"Say goodbye Snape, you greasy bastard." Avery chuckled, raising his wand up into the air. The other death eaters chuckled. Behind them Snape could see Dumbledore and Potter fighting to get to him, could hear others battling elsewhere. None would reach him in time, he couldn't rely on them. As it had been for all of his life, he would have to save himself.

For once he gladly remembered Voldemort's words. _" Ever since I broke the anti apparition wards..."_

Screwing his face up against the pain he braced himself, thinking of the only place he'd ever felt at least partially safe, then focusing with all his might he dissaparated.

Avery shouted with rage behind him. In agony he was pulled through nothingness, fighting desperately to stay in one piece and conscious until he finally emerged as a battered and bleeding mess on the shag carpet of his grandmother's cottage. Here he took several frantic gulps of air, still clutching his side he rolled onto his back, praying that the bleeding would stop as the world flickered in front of him.

The last thing he remembered hearing was the smashing of china before he passed out.

**XXX**

**A/N: Oops, looks like I updated the comment filled chapter of Masterdeed's editing. Oh well, all is fixed now. I apologize for the flub, hopefully not too many read it before I replaced it. Thank you Masterdeeds for pointing that out to me.**


	34. Muggles

**Cry Wolf**

**Chapter XXXIV: Muggles**

It was dark.

That was all that he could manage to discern. Try as he might his body was not responding, everything was a blur, buried in a deep haze of grey fog. The sounds around him were muffled, fading in and out like someone was purposely suppressing and releasing them.

Every part of him ached, but it was his torso that seemed to be in the most pain. There the ache formed into a sharp edged throb that thumped in time with his pulse.

_What is wrong with me?_ He thought. Flashes of light danced in his memory but they were gone, fading away like fireflies in the night sky, far beyond his reach before he could bring them into focus.

Slowly he seemed to be coming around, as if he were finally swimming out of the murky depths of some stupor.

There was a beep somewhere, repeating over and over. There was also a strange whoosh every couple of seconds. Then suddenly, there was a voice.

"How is he doing?" It was male, monotone and tired.

"Well, he's finally stopped bleeding, but other than that there's not much change from before." The second voice was female, brisk and all business.

"Have we figured out who he is yet?" The man again, his voice was followed by scratching noises, as if he were scrawling out a report.

"No clue. There's no report of anyone missing from the area he was found. He doesn't match anyone in the criminal database and his picture isn't in the hospital file so he's never been here before."

_Hospital?_

"What about dental records?"

"Huh," The woman laughed, "He doesn't match any dental records in the entire country and if you'd seen his teeth I think you'd know why. I don't think that man's been to a dentist a day in his life." She paused and by the sound of it rummaged through a drawer. "Or a barber for that matter."

"Now Kendra, be nice." The man said calmly, almost as if he were rolling his eyes at the same time.

"He's out cold. He's not gonna hear me." She dismissed. The two fell silent but he could tell that they were still there.

Slowly he forced his eyes open, then immediately slammed them shut again as bright light tore at his retinas. The beep in the room quickened slightly as his eyes watered while he continued to try opening them.

"What's happening?" It was the woman's voice again. "Is he waking up?"

"It's probably nothing, small spikes in heart rate are normal, it should slow down again in a minute." The man sounded uninterested.

_Heart rate? That beeping is my heart rate? _His throat felt tight, the whooshing sound was getting faster too, he could feel sweat breaking out on his forehead as everything started to focus. The fog was going away and his throat was getting tighter and tighter as if a fist were closing on his wind pipe.

Suddenly his body was jerked with a massive cough, then another, and another until he was thrown into a coughing fit.

_I can't breathe! _

"He's rejecting the respirator!" The woman again.

"Quick! Hold him down! Get it out of him!" The man's voice now, strong with authority.

Finally he opened his eyes and felt them bulge in horror. A blue tube was hanging down from a metal box and disappearing into his mouth and down his throat. There were smaller tubes taped to his arm and a strange clamp on his finger. Panicking, he thrashed, his hand found the tubes on his arm and ripped them out, the ends were shiny with needles where they came away.

"Sir! Remain calm! You are in the hospital!" He barely registered the man's voice shouting at him. He needed to breathe, _now!_ Grabbing the tube in his mouth he yanked and with a final sickly cough it came out and he gasped in frantic breaths.

"Sir! Calm Down!" He noticed for the first time that the man and woman were next to him on either sides of the bed, trying to pin him down. Frantically he knocked the man's hands away. In doing so the clamp ripped away from his finger and the frenzied beep shattered into a steady high pitched trill.

"Get off me!" He barked, his voice was scratchy and raw.

"Sir please! Everything is fine, you're safe-" He didn't give the woman time to finish speaking, realizing she was the weaker of the two he rolled off her side of the bed, pushing her out of the way as he stood.

"You have to get back in bed!" The man was angry, and quickly coming around the end of the bed towards him. Backing away he grabbed the thing nearest to him that could be used as a weapon, a tall metal pole that looked like a coat rack but had a bag of fluid hanging from it.

"Stay back!" He warned, brandishing the pole at the man. The tubes that had been in his arm flopped pathetically from the bag of fluid. Something in his side was burning.

"Look, you've torn your stitches. If you don't get back into bed and let us get that bleeding under control, you're going to need another transfusion." The man was holding his hands open in an attempt to look non threatening.

"What are you talking about? What are stitches? What's a transfusion? Where am I?" He growled.

"You're in St. George's hospital, in London. You were in some sort of accident, they brought you here all the way from Portsmouth."

"London? No I can't be here! I've got to see Dumbledore, the Potter's are in danger, the prophecy, I've got to warn Dumbledore, Voldemort will-"

"He's delusional," the man snapped. "I need a sedative in here!" He shouted. In moments more people were filing into the room and advancing towards him.

"Sedative?" Someone gave the man a tube with a needle on the end. "What's that? Get that thing away from me!" A vase across the room exploded and the woman ducked and yelped. He tried to swing the pole at the man but he wobbled slightly and his foot slipped, the floor was wet with blood.

"Quick!" He didn't know who shouted but instantly they were all around him and the pole was wrenched from his grasp. Something was jabbed into his thigh and many hands wrestled him back into bed.

"No!" He barked, futilely struggling against the hands that held him down. "I've got to find Dumbledore, the Potter's ..." his body was getting heavy, the world was quickly turning back into fog. "No, no, no, no..." And with that the world slipped from his grasp and he fell back into darkness.

XXX

It had been 13 days since Voldemort's defeat and the world was in jubilation. Ginny thought that the parties would never end. Every night since the battle, there had been fireworks at Hogwarts and multitudes of private parties across all of London. In Diagon Alley, Fred and George held a 'Voldemort has been whomped Bash' in their joke shop every other night. It was a time for all of the wizarding world to feel joy and happiness. She, however, couldn't bring herself to enjoy any of it.

It had been 13 days since anyone had seen Severus.

Dumbledore had taken her aside and told her what had happened at the battle, how his wand had been broken and how Bellatrix had riddled him with wounds, how he had dissaparated away in a desperate attempt to survive.

Aurors had been searching high and low, through every possible location they thought he could be. If they didn't find anything by tonight, they were calling off the search and pronouncing him a casualty of the final battle.

Ginny had never seen as much trauma as she had during the final battle. Injured witches and wizards had piled into Grimmauld Place, occupying every bed, cot, and chair in the entire house. She'd helped her mother tend to them, healing the wounds of those she could fix and sending the ones she couldn't off to St. Mungo's. Yet, the entire time, she was worrying about him.

_I do **not** need to go through this again._ She thought. _Please, please, please let him come home..._

Ginny did not like the fact that she was basically going through the entire Harry fiasco all over again. _Except that now, Harry is actually the one hanging around and the person you want to be with is missing._

_**Whatever, it's the same shitty left behind feeling.**_

Luckily she'd been able to avoid Harry for now. She'd caught him staring at her many times and he'd tried to get her alone at least three. The last thing she needed was the attention of an unwanted suitor.

"Ginny!" Her mother's voice drifted in from the kitchen.

"Yes Mum?" She answered.

"Can you help me with dinner dear?" Her mother asked.

"All right Mum, I'll be right there." Pulling herself up off the couch Ginny made her way into the kitchen only to find that she was no where to be found. Instead, sitting somewhat awkwardly at the table, was Harry.

"Where did Mum go?" She asked.

"Uh," Harry paused and pushed his glasses up his nose, "She was actually just helping me to, you know, talk to you."

"Oh."

_Looks like Mum's on team Harry._

"Can we talk?" Harry asked.

"Sure," she said with a shrug. "What do you want to talk about? Quiddich?"

"No."

"School work? I imagine you have a lot to catch up on and I suppose that since we'll be in the same year now you'll be needing help with homework."

"No, Hermione can help me with that."

_Please don't mention a relationship, please don't mention a relationship, please please please don't mention a relationship! _She thought desperately.

"I actually wanted, well I was wondering really, if... if you'd go out with me... again?"

_Damn_

"No."

"N-no?" Harry stammered, he looked completely flabbergasted.

"No." Ginny repeated, crossing her arms over her chest.

"But- but why?" He asked.

"Because Harry," Suddenly every feeling she'd every bottled away was right there on the surface and added to her stress from worrying about Severus, she found herself very angry. "You just up and left me behind to worry about you while you ran around all over the country to do who knows what. Then you just waltz back in and expect us to be together again!"

"But Ginny we agreed that after Voldemort was dead-"

"No Harry! You _decided_! I didn't have any say in the matter! You decided that it was unsafe and _you_ not anyone else, _you_ broke us up." Her chest was heaving with emotion and Harry looked absolutely stunned.

"Ginny, I'm sorry..." He stared at her intently, "But we can start over, it doesn't have to be like this."

"No." She said again. "You're too late."

"Ginny please." He got up from the table and made to move towards her.

"There's someone else Harry." She blurted. Harry stopped in his tracks, instantly crestfallen.

"Who is he?" He asked.

"It doesn't matter."

"Who is he?" He demanded.

"Forget it Harry!" She snapped. "I love him, _not you._ You're too late." and with that she turned on him and ran out of the kitchen. She didn't stop until she was securely in her bedroom with the door locked and her face buried in her pillow.

XXX

Next time he woke it was with much less confusion. The grogginess faded quite quickly and the room came in to focus easily.

The first thing he noticed was that his wrists and ankles were shackled to the bed rails. Kendra, the same nurse from before was pressing buttons on a box overhead.

"You're awake." She commented, glancing at him from the corner of her eye before turning back to her work.

"What are you doing?" He demanded.

"I'm adjusting you're morphine drip, you tore your stitches, had to have another surgery and another unit of blood transfused."

"And what exactly does transfused mean?" He drawled.

She looked at him with disbelief. "Are you serious?" He glared at her in response. "A transfusion is when we take blood from someone else and use it to replace the blood you lost." She explained.

He felt his lip curl at the absurdity of it.

_Why on earth do such a preposterous thing when a simply blood replenishing potion would-_ That thought stopped in mid tracks as it dawned on him. _This is a muggle hospital!_

"Anyway. Now that you're awake, we need to get some of your information." She grabbed a clipboard that was attached to the bed and pulled a muggle pen out of her pocket. "Name?"

"Snape."

"And first name?"

"Severus." Her eyebrow raised as she wrote it into the chart but she said nothing. "Get these shackles off me." He demanded.

"Date of birth?" She asked.

"Take them off me!" He snapped.

"Are you going to try another stunt like you pulled before? Because if so they are not coming off and by your current behaviour I'm not convinced you are going to be civil." The quality of her drawl was impressive. A long pause fell between them before he nodded curtly. Setting the chart down she found a key on her keyring and undid each lock from left to right, releasing his wrists and ankles.

"Date of birth?" She repeated, retrieving the chart.

"January 9, 1960."

"Thirty eight." She mumbled, marking it on the page. He glowered at her when she looked up but she ignored him.

"National Insurance Number?"

"My what?" He asked, perplexed.

"You're National Insurance Number, the number you're assigned when you're born?" She said with sarcasm.

"Well, whatever that is, I don't have one." He snapped.

"Where are you from then, because everyone born in the U.K has a National Insurance Number."

_Every **muggle **in the U.K maybe. _

"Russia." He lied.

"Snape is not a Russian name." She accused.

"My father was English." He countered.

"Say something." She demanded.

"Sorry?"

"In Russian. You have no accent so either you've practised english very well or you're lying."

"Ya mogoo tvoriyt choodyesa. Vi Idiot"**

She shot him a sharp glance. "Don't think I didn't recognize that last word." She said. He remained impassive.

"When can I leave?" He asked.

"You're wounds are still too far from healed for you to leave." She said with nonchalance. "Who are you visiting London with?"

"No one."

"Where were you staying?"

"I don't remember." He lied again.

"Do you recall anything about what happened to you?" She asked. He stared resolutely past her left shoulder for a moment to look as if he were trying to remember.

"No."

She sighed and put the clip board back.

"Well Mr. Snape, the only conclusion I can come to is that you were robbed. It doesn't explain how you showed up in a strangers house with no sign of forced entry but it does explain why you have no money, no wallet or no identification."

"I want to be discharged." He said. Dismissing her theory without consideration.

"You can't leave until your wounds are stable. They are not healing very well despite what we try to do. I'm afraid you are going to be here for a while."

"I can't stay here!" He snapped. "You don't understand, I have important things to attend to!"

"Well, important things or not, you're not leaving. Someone will bring you some lunch in an hour." She said with a shrug and then left the room. Snape scowled at her back, his mind working frantically.

Somehow, he'd lost his wand. And if his suspicions were correct, someone had used his sectumsempra spell against him. He needed to figure out a way to get out of here. Likely by now the prophecy was set into motion, if he didn't hurry it would be over, Lily would be dead.

Later, after dark he would try to heal his wounds wandlessly. If he had the strength he could sneak down to the entrance, transform into his animagus wolf and escape.

A few more hours wait and he would be out.

**XXX**

Supper was a tense affair that evening. Ginny sat as far away from Harry as possible and did her best to ignore her mother's questioning looks. Hermione also looked puzzled and gave her a look that clearly said _we need to talk later._ Ron, as usual, was oblivious.

Ginny was doing her best to look as if everything were normal but her insides were tied up in a knot of emotion. The search party had returned earlier today with no new findings. The search had been ended and tomorrow someone was going to report to the ministry with the conclusion that Severus Snape had given his life to defeat Voldemort, perishing in the final battle.

"Ginny, are you going to eat the rest of your stew?" Her mother's voice broke her out of her thoughts and with a bit of surprise she realized that she was the only one left at the table.

"No Mum, I think I'm just going to go to bed." She said.

"I think that's best dear, you haven't been yourself the last couple of weeks. I think you might have a bit of a cold perhaps."

"Yeah I think you're right." She lied. "Good night Mum."

"Goodnight dear."

Ginny left the kitchen and clambered up the stairs, lost in her own thoughts.

_He can't be dead, _She told herself with resolution. _They just haven't looked hard enough to find him. He'll turn up, eventually._

Changing into her pajamas and crawling into bed, she hoped that her instinct was right.

**XXX**

Inside the ministry of magic, Burnolt Binnetly sat at his desk in the department of magical regulation. One of the few Death Eaters that had avoided Azkaban, he'd managed to stay free on mere chance. Chance and the legal defence that he'd been under the imperius curse the entire time.

Grabbing the newest memo as it appeared on his desk his eyes lit up as he read the text.

_Spell: Shattering Charm_

_Location: St. George's Hospital, London. (Muggle)_

_Spell was performed with muggle witnesses by one Severus Tobias Snape._

Making sure no one was watching he slipped the memo into his pocket and went on to the next as if nothing interesting had happened.

**XXX**

**A/N: ****I tried my best to spell this out phonetically, I apologize to anyone who might actually speak Russian because it is probably terrible as I only know the very beginnings of the language. Loosely Severus said:

"I can do magic. You are an idiot."


	35. Slipping Away

**Cry Wolf**

**Chapter XXXV: Slipping Away**

As difficult as it was, Severus forced himself to eat every bit of food that Kendra placed in front of him for the day. Muggle hospital food was truly disgusting. The wizarding world must value quality much more that the muggle world. Patients at St. Mungo's would surely revolt if they were fed this.

"Someone's regained their appetite." The nurse noted as she took away his empty plate that evening. "Maybe you're finally going to start healing."

"Maybe." Severus drawled. _Not likely!_ In truth his side hurt just as bad, if not worse than it had when the pain had initially worked its way out of the shroud of drugs it was behind. All the stitches were doing was holding it closed, he knew that as soon as they were removed the wound would pop open again and spout blood like it was fresh.

Kendra scribbled some notes on his chart and then returned her pen to her pocket.

"All right. I just have to re-do your bandages, then I'll be out of your hair." She moved to the side of the bed and threw the covers off of him. Severus felt his lip curl with hatred at the sight of the thin hospital gown they'd dressed him in.

"Where are my clothes?" He asked coldly.

"They were practically destroyed. Your shirt and that, robey house coat kinda thing were both full of holes from where you got attacked. We kept your pants so you'll get those back." She explained. "Roll onto your side."

Severus felt like objecting but did as he was told, reminding himself very forcefully that in a few hours time he would hopefully be out of this wretched place. All he needed to do was find his pants. Suddenly he felt the rip of tape and his skin began to sting.

"Be careful!" He barked, his body tensing against the pain. Like he needed it to hurt any more around the gashes he already had.

"For someone who snarls and scowls all the time you're actually a wuss you know." Kendra said boredly. He felt her dump liquid onto the wounds and a second later it was like they were on fire.

"Merlin's beard woman what are you doing!" He snapped, clenching his hands into fists.

"Oh shut up!" She snapped back. "It's peroxide, it burns but it helps."

"If I had my wand right now." Snape muttered, imagining all the hexes and jinxes he'd like to cast on her.

"What?" She asked.

"Nothing! Hurry up!" He growled through clenched teeth.

"Gees, and here I thought you might be civil today. Hold still." He felt her lay a new bandage against his side and then tape it in place. "There, your all done." She threw the blankets back over him and tramped across the room. "I'll be back to give you your medicine at nine." with that she was out the door.

Severus lay still for a moment and then eased the blankets back off of himself. Pulling the gown aside he peeled up the edge of the new bandage and then carefully pulled it back, scowling as the tape separated from his skin again. What he saw was outrageous. Gashes were raked into his skin, some were obviously quite deep, only held together by the ludicrous muggle sewing. The skin around the gashes was red and swollen, holding the thread very taught and bulging slightly around it.

"They call this healing?" He growled. Honestly he had nothing against muggles, but they were incredibly thick. These _stitches_ were clearly doing nothing and yet they tried no alternative route. Taking a moment to focus himself he steeled his resolve and then held his hand out over the wounds.

Touching a single finger down he traced it along the swollen gash. One by one the stitches disappeared in its wake, reopening the wound, but it was slow and difficult work. The two folds of skin eventually began to yawn open as more and more stitches were removed. Blood began to ooze from the opening, nothing like it would be if they were fresh but still flowing. He had thought that it would hurt more with the stitches gone but strangely it was a slight relief, like pressure had been removed and only the original pain remained.

The first and largest cut was now free of stitches so he moved onto the next. There were five wounds in total, shaped as if some great beast had clawed at his ribs in a desperate attempt to devour him.

The second wound went slightly quicker than the first and the third quicker than the second. The fifth went the fastest as it was the smallest with the least stitches to remove. Laying his head back for a moment he closed his eyes and took a deep breath. The magical effort wouldn't have been much under normal circumstances but he was wandless and weak from his stay at this ridiculous hospital.

Blood was now flowing from each wound in a slow, steady stream, pooling into a stain on the sheets the size of a bread loaf. Refocusing his energy he held his hand above the injuries and concentrated.

"_Vulnera Sanentur." _He chanted, the spell drifting from his lips like a song. Beneath his hand the bloodflow slowed, thinning to a trickle before it ceased, leaving his skin stained scarlet.

"_Vulnera Sanentur." _The edges of his skin creeped together, covering the exposed inner flesh, their edges knitting together like the meeting sides of a zipper. His hand trembled with the effort but he remained focused.

"_Vulnera Sanentur."_ The final chant slipped from his lips, quiet and a little weak but still the newly formed skin thickened, its translucent quality disappearing. The scars were not as healed as they should have been, but for wandless magic done in a state of less that top health, it was the best he could hope for.

A pounding headache had formed behind his eyes and he laid heavily back in the bed and pinched the bridge of his nose in an attempt to staunch it. He sighed deeply with the relief at the disappearance of his pain.

One eye cracked open to peer at the clock. He was surprised to see that it was quarter after eight. What had felt like maybe half an hour of work had been nearly an hour or more. From somewhere he recalled that the nurse had said she would be back at nine.

He knew that he should be getting up, locating his pants and finding someway to sneak downstairs and outside but his open eye was becoming very heavy. His bit of spell work had taken much more out of him than he had anticipated.

_I'll just take a quick nap._ He told himself, feeling very aged. _Just until after she's returned, and then I'll go. _The hand on his nose dropped to his side and hooked the blanket, pulling it up to his shoulder and covering the mess of blood next to him on the bed. _Just for a few minutes, nothing more..._ and before he truly realized it he was asleep.

**XXX**

Severus woke with a start to someone prodding his shoulder. It was the nurse, Kendra, back to administer his medicine. She had a small cup in which he could see a few pills and another that he assumed was full of water.

"Do you live to annoy people?" He drawled his face a resolute scowl, angry that he had allowed himself to sleep for so long.

"No only you." She shot back. "I don't enjoy your company any more than you do mine, so if you hurry up and take your medicine we can keep this visit to a minimum." With a scowl he took the cups from her and studied the pills inside.

"What do these do anyway?" He asked.

"It's a variety of antibiotics." Kendra replied. He gave her a blank stare and she sighed. "Honestly, did you grow up in a cave or something? Antibiotics prevent infection. Since your wounds won't heal we've had you on a steady regiment of them. Take them already"

Severus scowled and downed them as fast as he could manage.

"Satisfied?" He sneered. Kendra marked the dosage down on his chart.

"For now. Get up, we're going to change your sheets."

"You're going to do what?" He stammered, a wedge of panic ebbing into him. It he got up she'd see all of the blood, and that his wounds had somehow disappeared. Not to mention all he had on was the pathetic hospital gown which would give her quite a clear view of things he'd rather she didn't see.

"Your sheets, we are going to change your bedsheets and give you fresh ones. Get up." She said with exasperation.

"No." He snapped. "I will do no such thing."

"Look." She snapped, slapping the chart down on the table. "This is not up for discussion or debate or whatever. Your sheets need to be changed, It is on the schedule that your sheets should be changed, and your sheets are going to get changed!"

"I am not getting up out of this bed in this pathetic gown so that everyone can have a clear view of my backside!" He growled.

"We've all already seen your backside! You were unconscious for nearly two weeks, how do you think your clothes and bedding got changed in all that time?"

Snape glared at her with such intensity that he thought a vein in his temple might burst.

"I. Am. Not. Getting. Up." He said forcefully. "Not without my pants." Kendra growled in frustration and marched over to the cupboard. She wrenched the door open and pulled his pants off the shelf and then flung them at him. Then landed with a thump next to his foot. Before he could even say it She tugged the curtain closed so that his bed was separated from the rest of the room.

His mind racing Severus jumped up and put on his pants as fast as he could. This was going to be his only chance to get out without any questions. If he didn't leave now there would be all kind of complications, probably muggle investigations on how he was suddenly, _magically,_ healed. Adrenaline pumping through his system he focused on the goal. _Get outside. Just get outside and vanish into the nearest cover._

With a deep breath he tore the curtain aside a barrelled past Kendra into the hallway. There was no way to tell which way was out so he arbitrarily banked right and ran down the hallway.

"Someone get down here now!" He heard Kendra shout from behind him. "We've got a runner!" There were some answering shouts and footsteps echoed behind him as multiple people gave chase.

Reaching the end of the hall it forked again. Skidding to a stop he looked around. To the right was a dead end, to the left he could see a sign that read stairs. A quick glance over his shoulder told him that their were two male muggle nurses quickly gaining on him so he kicked back into gear and tore down the hall, throwing himself through the door and thundering down the stairs.

His two pursuers were not far behind him, they burst through the door moments after him and began descending behind him.

"Stop!" One of them shouted. "You're not well, you've got to get back to your room!"

Snape ignored them and continued to fly down the stairs, taking in the signs as he went, fifth floor, fourth floor, third floor...

"Get someone on the ground floor covering the east wing, secondary stairwell, we've got a patient trying to escape." One of his pursuers said. He heard the sound of static and a beep he recognized as a muggle radio.

"Rodger that." A gravelly voice called back.

A door with the sign 'ground floor' sped up on them and Snape tore it open and barrelled through. He didn't look back but knew that the other two must be close behind because the door didn't close before their footsteps followed him into the hall. Another man emerged from a hallway on his left, forcing Snape to take a right.

"You there! Stop!" He ignored them and kept going, toppling a cart behind him that he heard at least one of them collide with, curse in pain and thud to the floor. He rounded another corner and chanced another look back. One of his pursuers was downed over the cart, the other two had already clambered over and rejoined the chase but he'd bought himself some distance.

The hallway suddenly broke into a wide, open space. He was in some sort of lobby now, weaving his way through a crowd towards the doors he could see at the other end.

"Stop that man!" one of the men shouted. "Stop him! He's going to escape!"

Severus tried to run faster, becoming reckless, no longer weaving his way but shouldering the muggles around him aside. People cried out in outrage at his violence but he kept going. The guard ahead was struggling with the gate of his desk.

He was feet from the door now, but the guard had gotten through his gate as well and was heading right for him.

Snape flung open the door and was halfway through when something very solid collided with his waist and he was thrown to the ground. The guard had tackled him and was trying to pin him to the floor.

"Hold him! Don't let him get away!" The male nurse bellowed. Snape thrashed, trying to connect his fist with any part of the guard that he could but the guard grabbed his wrists and pinned them down.

"Stay still!" He barked.

"Get the fuck off me!" Snape bellowed. The guard cried out in pain and jumped off of him. His hands were blistered and burned red. With a struggle Snape kicked him off and stumbled back to his feet. The nurses were stuck behind the guard in the doorway who was staring at his hands in horror.

"MOVE!" One of the nurses shouted but the guard was stunned. Severus spun on his heel and tore out into the courtyard, his eyes frantically searching for which direction to go. Most of the surrounding area was city, buildings, roadways and sidewalks illuminated by street lights. His eyes caught on an ally that was blacked out by darkness, he could hear the nurses still struggling to get past the guard in the doorway who was screaming in pain.

As fast as he could he ran into the ally and then ground to a halt. The other end of the ally was a brick wall.

"He went in there." He could see the nurses had got past the guard who was still screaming. Backing further back into the ally he let his body fall into fluid, ripple and reform as a massive black wolf. He quickly laid down against the wall and waited, head on his paws as if he were sleeping.

The nurses raced up to the ally and peered inside.

"It's a dead end in there." one of them panted, winded from the chase. The two stepped into the ally, clearly searching every corner for him. "Where did he go? It's a dead end! Where is he?"

"What's that?" The other asked, pointing to where Snape lay as a wolf on the ground. The other stepped closer.

"I think it's a dog." He took a few more steps closer. Snape picked up his head and growled at him. "Blimey!" The nurse stumbled back again. 'I'm not going near that thing, it's huge!"

"Let's go call the police." The other said angrily. "I don't know where he went, he must have climbed up that bleeding wall like spiderman or something."

"Mmm." The first grunted. They both turned and walked back to the hospital, disappearing inside.

Once they'd gone Snape stretched out onto his side and set about catching his breath. He'd done it! He was out, free! But he still had things to do.

He had to find Dumbledore, and the lower profile he kept the better. He didn't know what had happened, how he'd gotten hurt or who had been the one to do it to him. He didn't know if the death eaters had discovered his intention and turned on him, if anyone was trying to track him magically or what else.

His breathing now even and steady he got to his paws and padded out into the street. He'd have to find something that would give him his bearings and tell him exactly where he was in London, find which way it was to Diagon Alley. He'd have to steal a shirt and change his appearance so he could send a letter from the public owlery to Dumbledore.

He just hoped with all his heart that he wasn't too late.

The Dark Lord could not get to Lily, he wouldn't allow it.

**XXX**

**A/N: **Another chapter! Anyways, I just wanted to see if anyone else has the same thought as me. I watched Splice the other day and the whole time all I could think was, "Oh my god! Adrian Brody looks like Snape!" Well, a younger Snape anyway.

Hope you all enjoy!

Thank you very much to Masterdeeds who took time away from Nanowrimo to edit this for me! :)


	36. The Memorial

**Note: I have very recently re-read this entire story to refresh my memory. There is one error I wish to correct, in an earlier chapter I said that Snape's patronus is a wolf and then in a later chapter made it the doe. Please omit it being a wolf, I think I wrote that part**** before Deathly Hallows, Snape's patronus is a doe for this story's purposes.**

**

* * *

**

**Cry Wolf**

**Chapter XXXVI: The Memorial**

The search party returned that night with no sign of Snape.

"I think we've got to go ahead and send word to the ministry." Lupin said solemnly as he slouched in one of the kitchen chairs.

Mad Eye Moody was two chairs down from Lupin, his magical eye was the only part of him that was moving, Ginny watched as it spun back to gaze through the ceiling into the rooms upstairs.

Mr. Weasley entered the room and took one of the chairs across the table from Moody and Lupin.

"I've just told Harry, Ron and Hermione." He said. Ginny grabbed a cup from where she was by the stove and poured a cup of tea for her father. "Thank you dear." He said as she set it in front of him.

"How did they take it?" Lupin asked. His prematurely aged face looked very weary. Ginny wondered to herself how close it was until the full moon.

"Harry and Hermione seemed upset." He replied, then his face turned rather stern. "Ron didn't look up from his chess game." Lupin made a disapproving noise and shook his head. Mad Eye stayed silent and still, Ginny thought that he must be deep in thought.

"Ron owes Snape his life, we all do. Without him Voldemort would still be here." Lupin said, his voice full of respect.

"I know, but Ron's always been one to hold a grudge. I doubt he'll be able to get past Snape's... p_ersonality,_ to truly appreciate what the man's done for the wizarding world." Mr. Weasley said, trying to give some explanation for his son's behaviour.

Ginny busied herself with washing the dishes and cleaning up the counter to try to appear like she wasn't paying too much attention.

"It's a shame that there's nothing to bury. He deserved a proper funeral service at the least." Lupin said. Ginny's hands froze as they fussed with the tea towel.

"Likely he'll be deemed a hero." Mr. Weasley pointed out. "I wouldn't be surprised if they built him a memorial." Ginny could feel her eyes tearing up but with her back to the men she could safely dab them with the tea towel without any of them seeing her. Convinced that she'd removed any evidence of a near cry she piled some scones on a plate to take over to the men. When she turned she froze and nearly dropped the plate. Moody was staring directly at her, both his normal and magical eye fixed on her face. How much had he seen?

Deciding that she would rather act as if nothing was wrong she brought the scones over and placed them on the table. Lupin and her father both thanked her but Moody was still watching her, his tea cold and untouched. He looked as if he might say something but instead his real eye turned to her father and his magical one to Lupin. His chair scraped back as he stood.

"I will go alert the ministry." He said gruffly.

"It can wait until the morning Alastor, it's nearly midnight after all." Mr. Weasley said.

"No. I regret doubting Snape's allegiance. I'll go see that he gets the recognition he deserves." He growled then thunked out of the room, down the hall and out the door, slamming it behind him.

"I didn't expect that." Lupin said, his eyebrows raised.

"Mad Eye can be a prejudiced git at times but he admits when he's wrong." Mr. Weasley sighed.

"Dad that's not very nice!" Ginny objected. "After all Mr. Moody's been through I think he has a right to be suspicious."

"Yes I know Ginny dear, but you can be suspicious without running your mouth." Arthur replied, then took a large bite out of a scone and washed it down with some tea. Ginny shook her head and rolled her eyes.

"Anyway, I'm going to head to bed." She said, planting a kiss on her father's cheek. "Goodnight Remus."

"Goodnight Ginny." Lupin replied, a small smile on his face.

"Sweet dreams dear." Mr. Weasley said.

"Thanks Dad." She replied, a small smile briefly gracing her lips before she left the kitchen and retreated to her bedroom.

* * *

_**War Hero Remembered.**_

_The two week search for the man who greatly contributed to the death of 'He Who Must Not be Named' was brought to a close late last night. Severus Snape, potions master of Hogwarts, head of Slytherin house and spy for the Order of the Phoenix has been pronounced as lost in battle and is presumed dead._

_Although his allegiances were frequently doubted by some of those that he fought to protect, he played the part of a spy perfectly and throughout the years collected information against You Know Who without ever giving away his true allegiances to the light. _

_As earlier reported, it was not until Snape killed the snake, Nagini, under the Dark Lord's very nose that the dark wizard had any idea that the professor was working against him. (The snake was also a horcrux which without being destroyed wouldn't have allowed the Dark Lord to be vanquished by Harry Potter.)_

_Brave in the face of danger and valiant in the heart of battle, a memorial will be unveiled later today at a service held in memory of everything this brave man has done for all of wizarding Britain. An order of Merlin first class will also be awarded posthumously to the man who fought not only because it was the just and right thing to do, but also to protect everyone's born privilege to learn and practice magic, regardless of their heritage._

_Rest in peace, Severus T. Snape, hero to all._

Ginny put down her copy of the daily prophet and stared at it blankly. _Severus would surely hate all this attention._ she thought.

The family was just now getting ready to head to the memorial unveiling and service. She'd heard her father saying that they built a statue on the ground of Hogwarts. From what she'd gathered she guessed it was by the path between the front gates and the main doors.

"Ginny dear we're going!" Her mother's voice drifted in from the hallway. Sighing Ginny got up, inspected her black dress robes one last time and filed out into the hallway with the others. "Right then, let's go."

The lot of them, Hermione, Ron, Harry, her father, her mother, Remus, Tonks and herself marched out the front door and down into the street.

"All right then, pair up to apparate." Her father said over his shoulder. With a smile he offered his arm to Mrs. Weasley and they both disappeared. Ron and Hermione disappeared next.

"Are you two all right together?" Tonks asked, her arm looped in Remus'.

"I can take you side along with me, Ginny." Harry said, offering his arm. Ginny thought about refusing but with the way Remus was looking at Tonks she didn't want to force them apart from each other.

"We're all right, thanks Tonks." Ginny forced a smile and placed her hand as in-awkwardly on Harry's arm as she could manage.

After the unusual crushing sensation of apparition was over with she quickly took her hand back and walked away from Harry towards where she spotted her parents waiting by the gates to the ancient castle.

Beyond them, about halfway up to the castle she could see a small crowd clustered in their chairs around the statue to be unfurled, which was currently covered by an enormous black tarp.

When Ginny, her parents and the others had all joined the rest of the attendees and taken the last seats available there was suddenly silence and the gates behind them, as if on cue, swung shut. Near the front of the crowd Ginny recognized the tall, silvery bearded figure of Albus Dumbledore as he stood and took his place behind the podium. His piercing blue eyes swept the crowd, Ginny swore that they paused on her for a moment, but it was so brief she could hardly tell.

"Welcome." He said simply, the was a small pause before he continued. "I was originally asked by the ministry to perform this ceremony to remember someone, who has undoubtedly saved us all.

"Severus was a misunderstood person in most aspects of his life. At best he would come across as a reserved fellow who preferred only the company of a choice few and at the worst he came across as a right bastard." The few in the crowd that had really known Severus chuckled while those who were merely press or ministry officials looked slightly confused. Ginny felt a small smile tug at the corner of her mouth but at the same time there was an ache of sadness in the back of her throat.

"Severus first came to me for help as a very different person." Dumbledore continued. "Misguided and tainted by his younger years, there was a time when he was amongst Voldemort's true followers. However, upon the discovery that a dear, childhood friend of his was being targeted as Voldmort's next victim, he changed sides. He searched me out and begged that I help him to aid his friend in escaping Voldemort's clutches." Ginny saw Dumbledore's eyes fix on Harry where he sat beside her.

"Sadly, despite our efforts, we could not protect Severus' dear friend. But rather than give up all hope, this tragedy steeled Severus' resolve to destroy Voldemort, like Voldemort had destroyed his closest friend.

"When Voldemort returned, he did not hesitate to once again infiltrate the ranks of the death eaters to bring the Order of the Phoenix any information possible. He worked tirelessly to undo Voldemort's work towards immortality, and as you all probably know by now, destroyed the horcrux Nagini, which Voldmort had protected with serious magic. He did not expect that one of his own would turn against him, so he made it impossible for anyone without the dark mark to cast magic on the snake. Here he made an fatal error." There was a long pause as Dumbledore seemingly gathered his thoughts.

"In my eyes Severus has redeemed himself every time he answered the dark mark's call as a spy. He was a brave man, and will undoubtedly rest in peace knowing that he has avenged his friend by destroying her murderer. Rest in peace, dear friend." Dumbledore finished and stepped down from the podium. There was a smattering of applause and Ginny wiped tears into her sleeve as the headmaster reclaimed his seat and a man in ministry robes stepped up to the podium. He unrolled an official looking scroll and began to read.

"On this day, the Ministry of Magic recognizes Severus Tobias Snape for his service as a spy against _he who must not be named_ and commends his bravery in the final battle where he single-handedly destroyed the snake, Nagini, which directly led to the death of the Dark Lord.

"To award these deeds the Minister of Magic, posthumously awards an Order of Merlin, first class, the highest honour which any witch or wizard can receive, to Master Snape, Potions Master of Hogwarts, Head of Slytherin House, and hero of the final battle." With a tap of his wand the scroll the man was holding transformed into the Order of Merlin plaque.

"The award will be mounted in the trophy room of Hogwarts, in a place outstanding in importance from all others. The cash accompaniment to the award will be donated to the school, to fund the supplies for potions classes." The ministry wizard held up the plaque for the crowd and a few press wizards snapped some photos before he set it down on the podium and turned his attention to the tarp covered statue.

"Furthermore, this memorial will stand on these grounds as a constant reminder that bravery for the right reasons, friendship, loyalty, and above all else, honour, can accomplish anything." Another flick of his wand vanished the tarp, revealing a life size bronze statue.

It was a statue of Severus, standing tall and straight, with his arms crossed over his chest and a familiar scowl on his face that was directed towards the body of Nagini, that was also forged from bronze, laying at his feet. Ginny wiped some more tears from her eyes, thinking that Dumbledore must of had a lot to do with this statue for it to have such a characteristic expression on it's bronze face. She saw the ministry man check his watch before he rushed on with his speech.

"Every day, at precisely twelve noon, this statue will re-enact the historic destruction of the snake, so that all may see and know exactly what it is that Master Snape has done for their freedom." The man then turned and waited, his eyes on the statue. The crowd also waited patiently, Ginny was relieved to see that she was not the only one crying, before she too focused on the statue.

From the base of the statue came the sound of a loud clanging bell and just as it died away the bronze snake twitched, then twitched again, then slowly it curled up before it began rising like cobras do before they strike.

The bronze Severus watched it as it rose, his arms slowly uncrossing a his body shifting into a fighting stance, his bronze wand aimed at the snake.

Then all in a flutter the snake hissed and lunged, a flash erupted from bronze Snape's wand and the snake crumpled to it's original position at his feet while he resumed his crossed arm pose and scowled down at it with contempt.

There was another small smattering of applause and more cameras flashed. The ministry official left the podium and after a moment the crowd seemed to realize that the service was over and began to break up with small groups heading back towards the gates to apparate.

Ron and Hermione made their way from where they had been seated on the opposite side of her parents. Hermione also had tear tracks trailing down her cheeks but Ron looked somewhat bored.

"It was a lovely service." Hermione said he voice rather thick, all the while looking at Ginny knowingly. Ginny didn't reply, her attention was focused on Dumbledore, who although he was in conversation (or rather listening) to the ministry fellow and nodding in all the right places, was watching her very intently.

"I'm guessing the _dear friend_ Dumbledore was talking about was your mum Harry?" Ron asked.

"Yeah, They knew each other in school, I saw it in his memory before." Harry confirmed.

"Blimey, could you imagine being friends with Snape?" Ron asked.

"Ron!" Hermione interjected, appalled, then launched into a speech about Ron being more caring and thankful to someone who had saved all of their lives, but Ginny wasn't listening anymore. Ignoring Harry's question of where she was going she left the three of them behind and began making her way towards Dumbledore, a plan forming in her head.

An unlikely to work, nearly hopeless, flawed plan, but a plan none the less. She would not accept that Severus was dead, not without proof, not without finding out for herself.

"Good day Miss Weasley." Dumbledore greeted. "What can I do for you today?"

"I was wondering," she said, glancing around to see if anyone could be listening. "Is Professor Snape's raven still in the castle?"

Dumbledore face was hard to read, his eyes did not have their usual sparkle and Ginny thought that, oddly, he might be confused.

"Yes, Teneberr is there. She's not taking kindly to living solely in the owlery after the passing of her master but, alive and well. Severus used to let her stay in the dungeons sometimes you see."

"May I go up to the castle and see her?" She asked. Dumbledore still looked oddly puzzled but didn't deny her.

"Yes of course, although why you would want the company of such a testy bird shall remain unknown to me. But to each his own, do as you must."

"Thank you professor." She said, a quick glance at her parents told her that they were deep in conversation with Professors McGonagall and Flitwick.

Quickly she rushed across the lawn and into the giant stone castle. She flew up the many flights of stairs as fast as her feet would carry her and finally slowed to a stop as she entered the owlery.

Careful not to step into any droppings or owl pellets she searched the rafters, trying to find the outline of the midnight bird amongst the many coloured owls.

"Teneberr?" She hissed, watching the birds above shuffle about and hoot lowly, clearly ignoring her. "Teneberr?" She repeated, a little louder.

A scratchy caw came from behind her and she turned around to see that the raven was perched on the thick woodwork around the doorway, its steely eyes watching her with mild interest.

"Teneberr!" She said with surprise.

"Dunderhead." The raven croaked.

"How sweet you remember me." Ginny said sarcastically. "Come here for a moment." Nervously she held her arm out for the bird to perch on, knowing that her fingers would probably soon be under attack. The bird ruffled its feathers as if it was too good for her but flew over anyway. Jabbing her hand a few times with its sharp beak after it had landed.

"Ouch! Stop that!" She objected. The raven opened its beak and did a raspy imitation of a chuckle. "Listen," She scolded. The bird huffed but waited, it's head constantly moving in that weird, twitchy bird way. Why could birds never just be still? "Severus is missing. No one knows where he is, and most people are assuming he's dead, but I don't think he is. Do you think you can find him?"

"Duh." The bird croaked. Her insides twisting Ginny walked over to the window and held the bird up to look it in the eye. "Okay, if you find him, come find me, okay?" At that instant she realized that she was holding Teneberr much too close to her face cause it landed a sharp jab of its beak right on the end of her nose that brought tears to her eyes. "Arg!" She shouted, but the bird had already whirled away and, with a lot of cawing, was speeding off towards the horizon.

* * *

**A/N: **A raven, perched upon my chamber door, quoth the raven, nevermore... Ba ha ha, I just couldn't resist. Hope everyone liked this chapter!

Thanks to Masterdeeds for beta-ing!


	37. Seventh Year

**Cry Wolf**

**Chapter XXXVII: Seventh Year**

It was a delayed start, but Ginny, Ron, Hermione, and Harry were all finally being shipped off for their last year at Hogwarts. Dumbledore had postponed the first day of school in hopes that Snape would be found and could resume teaching potions, but after being declared dead with a public service announcing that fact, Ginny supposed he had to give up on Snape's return and open the school.

Ginny personally didn't know what to think anymore. Sometimes she became overwhelmed with the thought that Severus could be dead and other times she flat-out refused to believe it. Her emotions were like a roller coaster lately, most likely stress was the factor. Annoyance that Harry kept trying to hint that they should date again probably played a role in it as well. On top of that, she still hadn't seen Teneberr yet, but it had only been three days. If her Dad, Lupin and Moody couldn't find Severus in two weeks, it would probably take a bird more than three days.

"Ginny, are you going to play with us or are you going to stare out the window the whole ride?" Hermione asked. Ginny looked away from the view of trees whipping past and brought her attention back to the inside of the train compartment they were all sharing. Ron, Hermione and Harry were about to start a game of exploding snap. Hermione was holding the deck with a questioning look on her face. She'd been giving Ginny a lot of those looks since the memorial.

_If only she'd never caught us in that closet! _Ginny thought sourly. Harry looked all too eager that she should join them in their game.

"She can be on my team." He said hopefully.

"Actually, I think I'll take a walk, see if I can find Anna-Rose." Ginny interjected before Ron could agree with Harry.

"All right then." Hermione sighed, then set out to dealing the cards.

"C'mon Tim, let's go." Ginny called. The furball jumped up from where he was laying with an excited whine and bounded after her out into the hallway. The creature had finally stopped growing and was about the size of a golden retriever but his body and tail were more catlike while his eyes were friendly like a dogs and his ears were droopy.

The two closed the door to the compartment behind them and were no sooner in the hallway before they were met by a familiar, unpleasant voice.

"Control your mutt Weasley." Barry Binnetly snarled as he passed them in the opposite direction, barely squeezing around Tim, who stood obediently at Ginny's side.

Tim arched his back and hissed. Ginny chuckled as she saw Barry quicken his pace and veer off into a compartment.

"Good boy." She whispered and patted his head before setting off in her search for Anna-Rose.

The first few compartments she searched were full of what she guessed were first years but she didn't have to look very far to find her friend.

Anna was in a compartment with Tia, the two were looking at a _Witch Weekly_ magazine and giggling. Ginny slid the door open and entered the compartment, making sure Tim was clear before she closed it behind her. Anna-Rose's eyes lit up when she saw her and she jumped up to hug her friend.

"I looked everywhere for you at the train station!" She exclaimed, her arms squeezing Ginny tight.

"I looked for you too. We must have just missed each other." Ginny explained, squeezing Anna back before the two broke apart and Anna went back to sit down. Tia was staring at Ginny with disapproval before, as always, her mind seemed to cloud over and then she quickly forgot that she had ever known that her and Snape were together.

Were together? Are together? Ginny didn't know anymore.

"So how was your summer?" Anna asked. "Besides, you know, the obvious..." Anna-Rose trailed off.

Ginny sighed and shrugged, not quite sure how to answer.

"It was fine I suppose." She said without conviction. "Up until the final battle it was pretty good."

"I'm sorry Ginny." Anna-Rose said sympathetically.

"Did you lose someone Ginny?" Tia asked.

"One of my uncles." Ginny lied.

"Oh, I'm so sorry. That's awful." Tia said sadly.

"Thanks."Ginny replied.

Just then the compartment door slid open and a boy with shaggy tawny hair poked his head into the compartment.

"Hi there." He said to everyone in general. "Tia, do you want to come to our compartment? We're playing gobstones and you're really good so I thought you might wanna be on my team." He was blushing slightly by the time he finished talking and so was Tia.

"Sure." She answered quietly before she bounded away, leaving Ginny and Anna-Rose alone.

"Well, we're alone now, do you wanna talk about it?" Anna-Rose asked patting the seat next to her.

Ginny plopped down next to her friend and heaved a sigh.

"I don't know what to think anymore Anna."

"What do you mean?" Anna-Rose asked. Ginny stared out the window for a quiet minute before answering.

"About anything. Voldemort is dead, most of the death eaters are captured, the wizarding world is free, I should be happy."

"Well, you lost someone close to you. It's hard to be happy when that happens." She pointed out.

"They never found his body." Ginny found herself saying without really meaning to. Beside her, Anna was silent for a long moment.

"The ministry declared him dead Ginny." Anna-Rose said slowly, her voice filled with worry.

"They never found him." Ginny repeated. "I can't believe it until they find... something..." She could feel tears pricking at the corners of her eyes and did her best to hold them back.

Anna studied Ginny thoughtfully for a minute, her expression sympathetic, but she didn't press it any further which Ginny was immensely grateful for. Thankfully Anna-Rose was not long to change the subject and the two chatted amicably for the rest of the ride. Ginny did her best to stay involved but her thoughts were still elsewhere.

**XXXXXXXXX**

Nurse Kendra ripped the sheets off the hospital bed and heaved a deep sigh as she threw them into the laundry bin. It had been nearly a week since that Snape man had escaped from the hospital. At first the place was crawling with policemen and reporters, asking her all sorts of ridiculous questions. One reporter had somehow found out that the man had been Russian and had come up with all sorts of crazy theories about spies and weapons of mass destruction and attacks against British shipyards by Russian submarines.

"Soon we'll all be marching goosestep, speaking Russian and saluting the USSR!" He'd exclaimed as two policemen had escorted him off the premises.

"Some people are whack jobs." She muttered to herself, throwing clean sheets out over the bed with a flick of her wrists, and then setting to tucking in the corners.

"Have you almost got this room finished, Kendra? We've got a new patient coming in here in ten minutes or so." The doctor asked, poking his head into the room to see how she was doing.

"Yes, Nearly finished." She replied. The doctor nodded and left the room. Kendra topped the sheets off with the bedspread and fluffed the pillow a bit before moving to empty the garbage.

Just as she tied the knot in the bag and pulled it from the bin she heard a popping noise from the hallway, a slight pause, and then two more. Freezing, the bag of garbage still dangling from hand, she strained her ears to listen.

"What was that?" She asked herself. Only normal hospital noises droned on around her as an answer and after a moment she relaxed. "Must be nothing." Skillfully she tossed the bag of garbage onto the bottom of her cart and placed a new bag in the bin. Then she wiped the table with a disinfectant wipe and threw that into the cart's attached garbage can.

She was just giving the room one last inspection, checking for forgotten tissues or overlooked dirt when she heard footsteps in the doorway.

_'Must be the new patient.'_ she thought. "The room is all ready for you."

She jumped mildly with surprise, there was no patient or escorting hospital staff in the doorway. Instead there were three figures, she assumed they were all men, who quickly stepped into the room and shut the door behind themselves. Kendra heard the click of the lock and stepped back towards the wall, a knot of fear beginning to form in her throat.

All three of them were completely clad in menacing black robes that flowed all the way to the floor. Their faces were covered in strange skull like masks and they all carried pointed sticks in their hands.

"I don't care so much about the room." One of them said, he stood ahead to the other two and was clearly the leader of the three, despite the fact that he was shorter and unimpressive of build when compared to the others, who were both tall and muscularly broad.

"What do you want?" She asked, her voice quavered in the slightest. Instinctively she backed away until she bumped into the cart behind her.

"Where is Severus Snape?" The leader demanded, his voice was deep and had an eagerness to it of someone yearning for greatness.

Kendra's mind raced a mile a minute. These weirdos were after that Snape bloke? Why? Maybe he really had been a Russian spy and now these folks were here to punish him for blowing his cover.

"Are the paper's true? Is he really a spy? Are you all spies?" She asked hysterically, with sudden realization she remembered that the shredded garment Snape had been wearing his night of admission had been identical to what these men were wearing now, just a little worse for wear.

With a flick of his wrist the leader pointed his 'stick' at her and suddenly she was tumbling, then rising in a flurry of movement until she was hanging from her ankle in midair, completely baffled, flailing and twisting to try to break herself free.

"How do you know Snape was a spy?" He hissed, "What did he tell you?"

"Nothing!" Kendra insisted, "It was in the tabloids!"

"Tabloid?" One of the two in the back asked the other.

"Muggle gossip paper, usually all lies." the other answered.

"Please, get me down!" Kendra pleaded, tears were running from her eyes and up across her forehead.

"Where is Severus Snape?" the leader repeated.

"I don't know." she sobbed.

"Where is he!"

"He escaped! About a week ago." Kendra blurted. The hold on her ankle suddenly gave way and she crashed to the floor in a heap.

"You're lucky today." the leader said, stepping up to Kendra where she lay, groaning and clutching her arm. "OBLIVIATE!" He shouted, and then there was nothing.

XXXXXX

This last week, or however long it had been, had been rough on Snape. He'd been moving mostly by night, keeping in his animagus form, finding places where he could lay low during the day, such as behind industrial rubbish bins and in the back seat of unlocked cars.

He'd wandered into the suburbs pretty quickly, kicking around for a few days where the houses had a little more space and some people were fortunate enough to have a lawn. Here he managed to steal some clothes off of a line that he thought would fit him, and spent the night in a shed that someone had left open, which was a welcome break from the cooling fall air.

He spent a few more nights wandering the community and managed to swipe a bag of groceries from someone who had forgotten them by their car. The bag hadn't contained much, just some apples, bran cereal and soda crackers. He wouldn't have typically considered this a _good_ meal but they were much better than the table scraps and dog food he'd been stealing.

It had taken him a while to find suitable shoes, but he'd finally managed to nick a pair off of a back porch. Now with a shirt, pants and shoes he looked presentable enough to wander the street a little as a man instead of a wolf.

When he had been a kid, before he had ever gotten his letter from Hogwarts, he'd spent most of his days wandering the streets around spinners end, anything really to get out of the house. Since he hadn't had any money as a child, he'd become quite the pickpocket. Now his skills were more than a little rusty but he still managed to lift a wallet off of a passerby in the crowd. Of course, he didn't really want to steal from the man but he needed some money, so he quickly removed the bills and dropped the wallet a little further down the street, hoping that the man would come back and find it, or that someone else might return it.

The first thing he had to do, was change his appearance. He had no idea how he'd gotten hurt, or who was after him, but he had to survive long enough to get to Dumbledore and warn him about Voldemort's plan against Lily. The best chance of making that happen was to make himself harder to recognize.

Money in his pocket and an idea buzzing around in his head, Snape stepped into the first barber shop he came across and after a bit of a wait, settled into the chair.

"What can I do for you?" The barber asked politely, though the look on his face in the mirror was a little astonished at the amount of hair Snape had.

"Cut it off." He said almost regretfully.

"How much?"

"All of it."

XXX


	38. Diagon Ally

**Cry Wolf**

**Chapter XXXVIII: Diagon Ally**

The first week of school had not offered much excitement for Ginny. Classes were about the same as every year, except now there was even more pressure from the teachers since, being their final year, they had their NEWTS coming up in June. Ginny didn't really see the point of getting frazzled, it was an entire school year away, but most professors were acting like it was tomorrow.

The idea of graduation was a little stressful for Ginny. On top of Severus' disappearance, trying to avoid Harry (who insisted on sitting beside her everyday at breakfast), and keeping a good face on for everyone else, exams were the last thing she needed to worry about. The first week certainly didn't foreshadow the year as being very fun. It wasn't until halfway through the second week of classes that Ginny had something to be truly excited about.

"The Animagus club is back!" Anna-Rose exclaimed, bounding into their dorm room and flopping down next to Ginny where she lay on her bed. The sudden extra weight caused the two to seesaw back and forth for a moment before the mattress settled out.

"Really?" Ginny asked with excitement. Animagus club had been by far her favourite class from last year, even if it had really been extra credit more than a class. She had worked really hard, even studying the book McGonagall had given them, but had never actually managed a transformation. She was always in awe of McGonagall's effortless transition from human to cat, and the way Severus' body easily changed into that of a wolf.

Only one student had managed a transformation last year, a Ravenclaw seventh year that she didn't know who had changed into a short and stocky willow grouse, filling Ginny with jealousy.

"I want to transform so bad!" Ginny sighed, sitting up so she could properly talk to her friend. Endless possibilities of animal forms paraded through her mind, each more exciting and fanciful than the last. "Being something that could fly would be so awesome! Could you imagine what it feels like to soar through the air without a broom?"

"That would be amazing but I wouldn't get your hopes up." Anna-Rose said longingly.

"Why not?" Ginny asked.

"Well, I hear having a bird as an animagus form is pretty rare. There are only three wizards or witches listed in the whole text book McGonagall gave us that had birds for their animagus form." Ginny reviewed all the animagus she'd heard of in her mind, McGonagall was a cat, Severus was a wolf, James Potter a stag, Sirius Black a dog, Peter Pettigrew a rat, and Rita Skeeter a beetle. Out of seven the Ravenclaw girl was the only bird. "And on top of that," Anna-Rose continued, "That Ravenclaw girl, she may have turned into a bird, but she's a _grouse_, they aren't really known for flying long distances. I mean they _can_ fly, but they like to pick around on the ground more really."

"Well I guess I won't hope for it too much then." Ginny sighed. "I hope I'm not something useless like a fish."

"I just hope I can actually achieve it, it's pretty advanced magic. I heard Grouse Girl practiced every day for like two hours non-stop. Plus I heard McGonagall and Snape talking last year," Anna glanced briefly at Ginny at the mention of Snape, checking for any signs of upset, but then kept going. "I don't think they knew I was listening, but I guess they only expect like two or three people in the class to succeed. I guess there's like a 97% failure rate or something like that."

"Well, I'm gonna be in that three percent!" Ginny said with gumption, trying to squash the twinge of loneliness that had pinched her insides at the mention of Severus. Quickly getting up and flinging open her trunk she found her book, ripped out her bookmark and opened it back to the first page. "Starting now I am going to read this book cover to cover at least four times, and then I am going to practice, practice, practice!"

"That's the spirit!" Anna said with a giggle as Ginny held her book aloft in mock triumph.

And that was how Ginny officially became a nerd like Hermione. Every day she read a chapter in her textbook, and focused on the exercises listed between the pages. She paid rapt attention at club meetings and, to her surprise, so did Ron, who had joined the club with bright eyes and high hopes. Ginny was eternally thankful that Harry had decided not to join. She would have liked it if Hermione had joined but her exact words had been…

"_As truly fascinating and extraordinary as it would be to learn to be an animagus from Professor McGonagall, NEWTS are a far more important subject and are definitely what you should be focusing on at this point in your life, Ginny! You can learn to be an animagus any time, NEWTS only happen once. You know what, I'll make you a study schedule, come get it from me after lunch…"_

Ginny had taken the first opportunity that arose to "lose" her study schedule, claiming that she dropped it when startled by the moving staircase. Hermione had thankfully refused to make her another one.

Time kept marching on and September grudgingly rolled over into October. The air was beginning to get quite nippy and frost on the grounds was becoming a daily occurrence.

Ginny never thought she would live to see the day, but Dumbledore had actually found them a potions teacher that everyone, absolutely _everyone_, hated more than they had professor Snape.

The general consensus was not that the new professor, Bibbally Turnrank, was mean, but he was possibly the biggest moron, and most unhelpful person Ginny had ever met. He never asked them questions in class, all of their assignments were book reading, they never brewed potions and if any of them ever needed help they were told to '_seek out the answer in their textbooks.'_

"We are so going to fail our NEWTS!" Ginny had overheard a Hufflepuff girl complaining to her friend.

"Snape might have been a mean, prejudiced, git, but at least he knew what he was doing." Agreed a Ravenclaw. This had brought a small smile to Ginny's lips that lasted briefly before falling away.

It had been so long since she'd sent Teneberr away, and there had been no sign of the bird at all. All of Ginny's hopes were beginning to fade into sorrow that made her chest ache with longing.

_Where are you?_ She thought desperately, glaring at the desk where Severus had once sat and glared back at her, seemingly, eons ago. Now there was only an oblivious Professor Turnrank, sitting behind Severus' desk, doing the only task he was outright required to do, mark their assignments from the answer key in his professor's guide of the book.

_What a nitwit _Ginny thought with annoyance. How she'd like to see Turnrank and Severus go head to head about potions. Ginny was pretty sure that Severus would be spitting mad if he saw how his class was being run now.

* * *

To say that Severus was frustrated would be an enormous understatement. Having finally made it to the correct part of London, he'd spent his time hanging around the leaky cauldron in his stolen muggle clothes, trying to look as inconspicuous as you can when you have been unable to shower for quite some time.

He truly felt disgusting; he'd never gone this long without bathing in his life. But what else was he to do? He had no money, no wand, no place to stay, and apparently no luck at sneaking into Diagon Alley.

Truth be told, he was beginning to panic. He knew from the snippets of conversation he caught listening to muggle news programs, that it was midway through October.

_If the dark lord can find them he'll surely kill them on Halloween…_ He thought to himself, knowing how superstitious the Dark Lord was, and that Halloween was an especially magical time of year.

Exasperated, he was standing outside the Leaky Cauldron's entrance, where he had been debating with himself whether or not he should make another attempt to sneak into Diagon Alley, when a familiar voice materialized behind him.

"You there, move out of the way, filthy vagrant," they drawled. Snape spun on his heel and came face to face with Lucius Malfoy. He froze; time seemed to come to a standstill. Survival instincts kicked in and all tiny details around him were suddenly noticeable. The sheen of light on Malfoy's slick blonde ponytail, the glint of light on the end of his silver cane, the smell of fumes from muggle cars as they rushed by, the deep clang of a far off clock striking two, the rustle of feathers as a burly raven landed on a street lamp nearby and let loose a angry _'caw'_ all flooded his senses.

The panic in him clawed its way up into his throat, he had no idea if it had been death eaters, order members or Aurors that had put him in the hospital and now he was face to face with Lucius Malfoy! What if Malfoy had given him all those terrible wounds? The spell that had done it made it far more likely that a death eater was responsible.

With some difficulty he forced his face to remain neutral, and stared blankly at Malfoy, as if he did not understand.

_Play up your stupidity, don't say anything!_ He thought frantically, hoping desperately that the shabby clothing, homeless appearance and the short hair that he hated would keep him disguised.

"Move I said!" Malfoy snapped, and to his great relief barely even gave him a sidelong glance as Snape stepped aside and Malfoy rushed passed him into the Leaky Cauldron, almost as if he were afraid poverty were contagious. Snape waited a few moments, the Raven stared at him as if to say _'Well? What are you waiting for?' _ Quickly, he whirled back around and followed Malfoy into the pub; trailing Malfoy could finally be his chance of getting into Diagon Alley.

It was much darker inside the pub. After living outside for so long, it took his eyes a long moment to adjust to the dimness. Once he'd gotten used to the gloom he stepped further inside, his eyes searching the sparse crowd for Malfoy.

He spotted him across the room, seated with a few others in the corner table. Malfoy had the seat directly in the corner, he was assuming so that he could keep watch on the entire room.

'_Damn' _Snape thought. He was hoping that Malfoy would be going straight into Diagon Ally, not socializing. What was he to do now? He couldn't hang around in this bar, waiting to be recognized. Besides, he had no money, it's not like they would let him hang around if he wasn't buying anything.

"Yes I have some business to take care of at Gringotts, and then Borgin says he has something I might be interested in." Malfoy drawled to his companions in the corner.

Snape felt his lip curl slightly. Malfoy was always such a bigoted git, practically announcing to the entire room that he was going to Borgin and Burke's to look at dark artifacts. At least now he knew that Malfoy was for sure going to Diagon Ally. He would just wait out back in the ally and slip through when Malfoy went through.

"Can I help you sir?" The waitress asked. Pausing in her trek to whichever table she was taking a platter of butterbeers.

"No." He said curtly and then headed for the back door and out into the ally. He squinted in the afternoon sun and set about to the arduous task of waiting for Malfoy. It was nearly twenty minutes of pacing back and forth before the door finally creaked open and Malfoy stepped out, along with Burnolt Binnetly.

'_Shit, another death eater.'_ Snape thought. The two shot him disgusted glances, as if he were something gross to be stepped in, and then walked past him to the brick wall.

"I'm telling you Malfoy, he's _alive!" _ Binnetly hissed.

"Don't be ridiculous, he's dead. The ministry searched for him for weeks, he is _not_ alive." Malfoy said with the boredom of having said it many times before. Snape felt his heart quicken, were they talking about him?

"I told you what I saw, you _know_ what department I work in. He is alive!"

"Surely a mistake or a prank of some kind. He has been missing for months, I was at the battle for Merlin's sakes, I saw how he was injured, and there's no way he survived." Malfoy whispered, clearly becoming suspicious that Snape was just loitering behind them. Quickly he pulled his wand out of the top of his cane and tapped the appropriate brick. The wall began to unfold into a brick archway and the two stepped through with Snape sneaking in behind them. "Besides, even if he's survived, hunting him down will do no good. You'll only land yourself in Azkaban…" The rest of what Malfoy was saying was lost to the crowd as he and Binnetly drifted away from him.

Wary of being recognized, Snape felt very out in the open. With his hair gone his face was out in the open for anyone to spot.

"Never, _ever_, again will I _ever_ have short hair." He growled at himself before setting off towards the public owlery. Hopefully he could bum enough change off of someone to send a letter.

"Mummy I want an owl!" A brat whined as he approached the pet store. The child was staring longingly at a bird in the window, his hands and face pressed against the glass.

"I told you sweetie we can't afford it." The mother said sympathetically. "Start saving your allowance and you'll be able to get one eventually."

"That will take _forever." _The child groaned over the ding of the shop bell. Severus stepped around the mother and child and was promptly bumped into by the enormous person exiting the pet store.

"Sorry bout that," A gruff voice said, Snape rubbed his face where he'd apparently been struck by an elbow. "Didn't see ya – Blimey!" the man exclaimed. Snape looked up to see the wildly bearded man that was Rubeus Hagrid staring at him in shock. "Professor Snape! Yer alive!"

The crowd around them went into a hush as everyone within earshot turned to see what was the commotion. _Professor Snape?_ He thought, very aware that many eyes were now fixed on him. _Shit, shit, shit!_

"Where on earth have yeh been?" Hagrid continued.

"Merlin's beard, it _is_ him!" The brat's mother exclaimed. The crowd erupted into excitement and began to press closer to him.

"Mummy, is that the man who killed the snake?" He heard the child ask in awe.

"Now hold on! Get back!" Hagrid barked over the murmur of the crowd. "Give him some room!" But the crowd wasn't listening, people were shaking his hand, women were fanning themselves in disbelief, others were bowing to him. "That's enough." Hagrid shouted, that and his enormous size was enough make the crowd back off a little, but they were still staring at him, transfixed with admiration, despite his unkempt state. "I think we better be getting yeh out o' here. C'mon, I'll get yeh back to Hogwarts, Dumbledore will be wantin' to see yeh."

Snape hesitated a moment as Hagrid pushed his way through the crowd but quickly fell in step behind the half giant rather than be left behind to the crowd.

"What was that?" He hissed, unnerved by the people waving to him as they left the crowd behind.

"Thank you!" A woman shouted after them. "For everything!"

"Just folks payin' their respects I guess." Hagrid answered.

"For what?" Snape asked. Hagrid stopped and looked at Snape questioningly.

"Well fer what yeh done o' course." Hagrid said simply, at Snape's blank stare he continued, "You do remember what yeh done don't yeh?" Snape shook his head no and Hagrid looked worried. "You are Severus Snape aren't yeh? I mean yer hairs short and yer kinda on the rough side but yer him right?"

"Yes." Snape said warily. He didn't like admitting who he was to a known order member but Hagrid had said he would take him to Dumbledore.

"And yeh don't know why them folks are so excited ta see yeh?" Hagrid asked.

"No." Snape said. Hagrid looked worried.

"I think we better get yeh to Dumbledore soon as possible." Hagrid glanced back at the few stragglers from the crowd that were following them. "Right then, this way."

Snape trailed after Hagrid, walking fast to keep up, but his mind was working even faster.

_What the hell was going on?_

* * *

It was suppertime in the Great Hall and Ginny was not happy about the menu.

"I hate chili." She groaned.

"Have the casserole then." Anna-Rose said, pointing to a dish filled with noodles and what she expected was tuna that did not look much more appetizing.

"I think I'd rather choke this down, thanks." Ginny replied, curling her nose at the offending casserole.

"You could always just fill up on garlic bread, that's- _Jeepers_!" Anna-Rose shrieked as a black bundle of feathers nearly landed on her plate. Ginny stared in amazement as the Raven situated itself and croaked angrily at Anna-Rose who was trying to push it away from her plate.

_Teneberr_

"Don't bother it!" She said sharply to Anna-Rose. She held out her hand and the Raven gladly hopped on, hissing in Anna's direction. A few people were around them were staring but Ginny was oblivious, her mind was focused on only one thing. "Did you find him?" She asked the bird.

"_Yes."_ It croaked. An explosion of happiness erupted in Ginny's chest, she felt tears of joy prick at her eyes and looked at Anna in astonishment.

"What is going on?" Anna asked. Ginny thought the grin on her face must be the widest of her life.

"He's alive."

* * *

**A/N:** Finally! A new chapter! I apologize for how long it has been, but my laptop was being a complete piece of crap. Utterly useless, stupid, worthless Dell piece of shit. But now, I am broadcasting live from my brand new Macbook! I love it sooooooo much!

Thanks a lot to Masterdeeds, who was gracious enough to beta this for me

I hope you all enjoy this chapter, I am very pleased with it and am excited to get started on the next chapter.

I am going to try to keep up with this, as best I can, but I start University in September. I'm a bit of a late bloomer having my first year at 22, but I am tired of working retail so it's off to get my Bachelor of Science in Nursing. I am definitely NOT going to quit this story, but there may be long breaks between chapters. I apologize!


	39. Return

**Cry Wolf**

**Chapter XXXIX: Return**

* * *

Ginny sprang up from her seat, trying to wrestle her leg out from behind the bench.

"Where are you going?" Anna-Rose asked exasperatedly.

"I have to tell Dumbledore! He's alive Anna!" Ginny sputtered, beside her self with adrenaline.

"Sit down!" Anna commanded, and grabbing a handful of the girls robes she forced Ginny back into her seat. "Now what, in the name of Merlin's cauldron, are you talking about?" she demanded. Ginny opened her mouth to speak but after a glance down one side of the table and back up the other, it was apparent that every student within earshot was watching her. Teneberr was not helping to dissuade the attention but instead was helping itself to generous portions of her chili and hissing loudly every time anyone ventured too close.

"Let's go out in the hall." Ginny said quietly to her friend. Over Anna's shoulder she could see the several teachers, including the headmaster, were watching the commotion from the high table with mild interest. _If only I could just go talk to Dumbledore!_ She thought with annoyance, knowing that Anna was not letting her go anywhere without explaining what was going on.

Anna nodded her agreement and the two rose from the Gryffindor table and quickly headed towards the large double doors. Once they were outside of the great hall Ginny directed them towards the dungeons, hoping that it would be the least likely direction in which they'd encounter eavesdroppers.

"What is going on?" Anna-Rose demanded again. Ginny shot a quick glance over her shoulder to make sure no one was following them, before rushing into the story.

"That was Severus' post bird!" She said with palpable excitement.

"So?" Anna asked.

"_So?"_ Ginny repeated. "Look, listen carefully cause I'm only explaining this once." She glanced behind them again before pulling Anna into an upcoming alcove. "After the memorial in August, I snuck up to the owlery and found Teneberr, that's the raven's name." She explained at Anna-Rose's confused look. "Anyway, the point is, I sent it to go find Severus, it's been gone all this time and now it's back!" Anna still looked slightly confused so Ginny pressed on.

"Don't you get it? That means he's alive! Severus has been alive all this time and no one's been looking for him! Who knows what could be going on, or why he hasn't come back to Hogwarts yet! I've got to tell Dumbledore so someone can go look for him!" with that Ginny whirled away from her friend to stalk back to the great hall. Anna, however, quickly caught her wrist and whirled her right back around.

"Are you mental?" Anna growled at her. "_If_ Snape is alive you can not march into the great hall and announce it in front of everyone. People will go berserk! The entire school will be in an uproar!"

"But we have to find him!" Ginny protested.

"I'm not saying you shouldn't tell Dumbledore!" Anna said with the tone of someone explaining something to a small child. "All I'm trying to tell you is that _if_ Snape has survived this long he's obviously got things under control. A few more hours won't hurt, wait until after dinner is over and everyone's gone back to their dormitories. That way there's no chance anyone can overhear you and spread it around the school."

Ginny was greatly annoyed but knew that Anna was right. She did not want any ridiculous stories circulating about Snape's survival.

"Fine." She relented. "I'll wait."

"All right. Let's go then, I want to finish my dinner if that nasty crow hasn't taken it." Anna-Rose said with a rather smug smile on her face.

"He's a _raven." _Ginny corrected, ignoring her friend's superior look. Anna definitely enjoyed being right far too much.

* * *

By the time Hagrid had gotten them out of Diagon Ally, through muggle London and finally over to Scotland, and more importantly, Hogwarts, the sun had long disappeared below the horizon, leaving only a few soft pink tendrils glowing in its wake.

Severus didn't know if it was possible to be exhausted and anxious at the same time but felt that he was very close. All the long days of scrounging around as a wolf and having to do so much travelling without magic had taken its toll on his body.

That and his continually growing fear over Lily's fast approaching and seemingly unavoidable confrontation with the dark lord had his nerves on edge. Worry, an emotion that he was usually unaccustomed to, had set up a rather discomforting pressure point behind his breastbone. Making him feel as if his world could collapse around him at any moment.

"Prob'ly better ta use the side door." Hagrid said once he'd closed the massive front gate to Hogwart's grounds behind them. Severus did not reply but simply waited until Hagrid led them off again, away from the main path. He vaguely remembered it from his first year as the way to the boats. "So where've yeh been all this time Professor?" The half giant asked with an air of familiarity.

Snape scowled at the man's back in the darkness. What was with the small talk? He had no desire to exchange pleasantries with Hogwart's gatekeeper, especially one with size and stature that gave him the ability to squash him like a bug while he was filthy and wandless. And, why on earth did he keep calling him professor?

"I do hope we're not boarding the rowboats." He drawled, avoiding Hagrid's question entirely.

"Oh no, there's another door righ' before the lake. We'll go in that way." Snape had hoped that Hagrid might've taken his verbal sidestepping as an indication that he was unwilling to share details with him, but the half giant droned on. "So, were yeh lost all this time? I know yeh disappeared before it was over an all, but yeh've been gone an awfully long while. Do yeh really not remember anythin'? I thought that maybe-"

"How long until we reach Dumbeldore?" Snape curtly cut off Hagrid's incessant prying. "I have urgent matters to discuss with him."

"Not long now." Hagrid replied, only just managing to fit himself through their chosen entryway. Snape followed and they both set off, heading up several levels towards the headmaster's office. Severus insisted that they make the rest of the journey in silence, quickly telling his guide that he was in no mood to answer questions.

"Cinnamon Faeries" Hagrid said when they finally reached the stone gargoyle. The statue obligingly leapt aside to reveal a spiraling stone staircase. "Well sir, it's a bit o' a chore to squeeze through that door, especially when I don' have to. I'm sure Dumbledore is up there in his office so I'll leave yeh be from here." Much to Snape's surprise the towering man gave him what could be called a friendly clap on the shoulder if it hadn't of buckled his knees so much. "I'll be seein' yeh at breakfast I suppose." He said, and then he was off, stomping back down the corridor and out of sight.

"Merlin's bollocks." Snape cursed to himself, and then began climbing up the many spiraling stairs towards Dumbledore's office.

For many long moments he hesitated outside Dumbledore's door, it's wooden boards nearly defeating his resolve. His heart thumped loudly in his ears while his imagination whispered all the ways Dumbledore could destroy him, a known death eater, with merely a flick of his wrist.

"_Just do it already."_ He growled at himself, then he rapped two knuckles smartly against the worn wood before he could change his mind.

"Do come in." Dumbledore's voice said almost lazily. Snape's hand faltered for a fraction of a second before turning the knob and allowing the door to yawn open. Dumbledore was at his desk, his silver beard and hair as obscenely long as ever. He was scribbling away on some scrap of parchment, not paying the least bit of attention to his current company.

Severus took two tentative steps into the office and then stopped, not daring to take any more lest he should find himself unable to escape should it prove prudent. Dumbledore finally finished his scrawl with a flourish of his wrist and plunked his quill back into the inkpot. He looked up over half moon glasses with a genial smile that quickly fell to a look of shock when his blue eyes met Snape's black.

"Severus?" Dumbledore asked, his voice one of astonishment. Snape did not voice a reply but nodded curtly, waiting for the old man to react and hex him. Instead, Dumbledore turned his attention to the portraits around the office. They had all begun muttering to each other at the mention of his name, some leaning very far into the sides of their frames to get a look at him.

"Phineas?" Dumbledore called, having found the portrait he sought. "I know you would undoubtedly take great pleasure informing me of my insanity should it ever happen. Therefore I trust you would be most willing to tell me the truth, have I gone mad?"

"Unfortunately no, Headmaster, you are not mad, yet." Phineas drawled reluctantly. "He is filthy, dressed as a muggle and has had a disastrously terrible haircut, but I can see him as well." Snape's lip curled at the insult. Dumbledore turned his attention back to his former potions professor.

"But Severus, I don't understand. Where on earth have you been? What has happened? Do come sit down and enlighten me!" His hand swooped through the air in a 'come hither' gesture. "What has kept you away so long?" As he queried, Dumbledore was pulling a pot, cups and saucers from one of his desk drawers, clearly he intended to make them tea.

Snape customarily swept his way across the room, which was less than impressive in his current attire, and cautiously sat himself across from the headmaster. With a flick of his wand, Dumbledore had tea prepared and a steaming cup sat before him, which he studiously ignored.

"There is something very urgent I must discuss with you." He said, finally delving into his reason for being here.

"I should imagine my dear boy, there is so much for us to discuss! Urgent does not seem judicious enough of a word." Dumbledore added a small trickle of cream to his own tea, followed by a generous heap of sugar. "Do begin at the beginning of course, as all tales should." He said, the delicate china of his glass tinkling with merriment as he stirred his tea.

"Voldemort knows about the prophecy!" Snape blurted. "He thinks it's referring to her!"

Dumbledore's hand froze where it had been raising his tea to his lips. His blue eyes stared at Snape with astonishment.

"Surely not." The aged wizard whispered to himself.

"Yes, surely so. Even as we speak he is trying to locate the Potters!" Snape replied. He was becoming annoyed. Dumbledore set his mug back down, disinterested in his tea he watched Severus closely.

"Tell me, Severus, what date is it?" He asked. Snape felt anger course through his veins.

"What does it matter? Are you not listening? They need protection!" He snapped. Dumbledore held up a hand in placation.

"Please humor me on this." He pleaded. Snape huffed his disproval.

"I do not know the day, but I presume it is October, 1981." He sneered. Dumbledore shook his head and sighed deeply.

"My dear boy," He said gravely, "It is October 23, 1998." The two wizards stared at each other in silence. Snape's mind was working at warp speed. _1998? _

"_What?"_ He finally manage to ask, he felt as if he'd been confounded. _What was going on?_

"I think perhaps, I should get us something stronger than tea. We have much to discuss indeed." Dumbledore replied, and with a flick of his wand a bottle of Ogden's finest soared from the nearby cabinet, landing smartly on his desk.

* * *

Returning to the great hall after her discussion with Anna-Rose had proved bothersome. Everyone's eyes had followed them back to their seats and more than a few people had tried to question her about why she'd taken off so suddenly.

Teneberr was still there, helping himself to a plate of rolls and effectively ruining them for anyone else who might have liked one. After a few other students had tried and failed to shoo the bird away, Ginny finally lured it over with a bribe of more chili.

"Look." She said, staring into one of the raven's beady eyes. "Thank you for finding him. Now you've got to go back to the owlery." Teneberr puffed out his throat and his beak gaped open in obvious dislike. "Fine then! Not the owlery. It doesn't matter, go wherever you want, but you can't stay here."

Teneberr snapped his beak shut with a curt _click_ and then took off in a flailing of wings that knocked over a nearby milk jug, clearly on purpose.

"What was that all about?" Harry asked, plopping himself into the seat at her right.

"Nothing." Ginny curtly replied. She half-heartedly listened to him drone on about quiddich, lingering in the hall much longer than she normally did. Eventually even the staff was trailing out and it was just herself and Harry left behind.

Not wanting to be alone with him, she marched off to the Gryffindor common room where she perched herself in an armchair by the fire, completely intent on waiting there until everyone else had gone off to bed.

She suffered a few younger years wandering over to chat with her. She humored them as best she could without hurting their feelings, barely committing to the conversation until they realized that she wasn't in the mood before drifting away.

Unfortunately for her, despite her resolute intentions, she dozed off in the chair while waiting for the last stragglers to wander off. Around quarter after 11 she was awakened by a painful crick in her neck.

"Damn." She muttered, noting the time. She had hoped that she wouldn't be required to sneak out after curfew, but what she had to do was more important. Clambering out of her chair, she quietly snuck out of the portrait hole, somehow managing not to wake the fat lady.

It seemed like a long walk to the headmaster's office. Every sound made her jump and duck into the shadows and she spent a lot of time huddled behind corners, trying to decide if there was a teacher approaching from the other direction.

Finally standing before the stone gargoyle, it was then that Ginny realized she didn't know how to get in.

"Password?" The stone monster questioned, looking down at her with its beady eyes.

"I don't know." Ginny said uselessly. The gargoyle huffed at her and turned back to its usual position. "Please," she argued, "I need to see professor Dumbledore! It's important, an emergency!"

"I cannot let you in without the password." The gargoyle growled. "Besides, the headmaster is not in his office anyway."

Ginny glowered at the stone statue and turned on her heel, slouching back towards her dormitory.

"_Wait" _she mumbled to herself. _"You can't tell Dumbledore in the middle of the great hall! Tell him when no one else is around. Last time I take advice from you, Anna-Rose!" _She was staring sourly at her feet as she walked, too preoccupied with her anger to notice the approaching figure of the headmaster.

"And what could be so important, that you were unable to tell me in the great hall, and yet, proves to be worth sneaking out after curfew?" Ginny's head shot up at the sound of Dumbledore's voice and she immediately blushed at her excitement.

"H-Headmaster!" She stammered. "You're not going to believe it-"

"Let's go up to my office, shall we?" Dumbledore interrupted. "I'm an old man you see, and my legs tire easily, especially at this time of night." He apologized.

"Yes sir." Ginny replied, falling into step behind the headmaster.

"Cinnamon Faeries." Dumbledore said to the gargoyle, which leapt aside for the two to pass.

When they reached the circular office at the top of the stairs Ginny made no move to sit. She barely waited until the door was closed behind her before blurting her news.

"Severus is alive!" Dumbledore was halfway to his desk but he paused to cast Ginny a quizzical look before making the rest of the journey to sit down.

"What exactly have you been doing this evening Miss Weasley?" He asked, a flourish of his hand told her he wanted her to sit. She quickly stomped over to the chair and perched on its edge, her nerves were shot from anxiety.

"It doesn't matter." She said dismissively. Dumbledore's eyebrows drew together at that comment and Ginny rushed to continue. "No to be rude sir," She amended, "But we need to look for him! Anything could be happening to him, he could be in danger."

"How do you know that Professor Snape is alive?" Dumbledore asked. One of his hands was thoughtfully stroking through his long beard. He looked incredibly tired, and it suddenly hit Ginny that he looked very aged.

"What does it matter? We should be-" Ginny began hurriedly but then paused as her mind worked. "Wait, you know that Severus is alive?"

"Yes, I am aware that _Professor Snape_ is alive, I am curious to know how you know." Dumbledore replied.

"I sent Teneberr to find him, back in August." Ginny said quickly. "Is anyone looking for him? Is he okay?"

"He is perfectly safe." Dumbledore said calmly. "Hagrid brought him to the castle some few hours ago. I've just returned from delivering him to his chambers. It proves wise that I never ordered the elves to clean them out."

Ginny nearly knocked her chair backwards as she sprang up.

"I have to see him!" She blurted.

"Sit, Miss Weasley." Dumbledore said sharply, before she could even turn for the door. She'd never heard Dumbledore speak so forcefully. He was certainly not a wizard she wanted to disobey so, reluctantly; she plopped back down in her chair.

Dumbledore was studying her very closely, Ginny felt exposed under his gaze, almost as if he could see through her.

"Miss Weasley." He began; his hand had left his beard so that he could steeple the fingers of both hands together. "Professor Snape has suffered a significant trauma."

"He's hurt?" Ginny could feel herself pale at the pronunciation.

"Physically, he is fine." Dumbledore paused and Ginny realized that he was as worried as she was, just for another reason. "Mentally, however, he is very distraught."

"Why sir?" Ginny asked, greedy for information.

"Professor Snape is suffering from an overwhelmingly significant case of amnesia. He has effectively lost all memory of the last eighteen years of his life." Dumbledore said slowly, watching her closely to gage her reaction.

"But-" Ginny began, dumbfounded. "But then, he doesn't remember…" She trailed off, _'he doesn't remember me…'_ Her chest was suddenly very heavy with sorrow.

"He doesn't remember anything. He came here tonight with the intention of warning me about Voldemort's plan to murder James and Lily Potter. Professor Snape had no idea that the two had died long ago, or that Voldemort has been dead for months. I'm sure you can imagine the state he is likely in as we speak." There was a small note of sadness in Dumbledore's voice.

Ginny nodded silently, her throat tight. She could remember very well the bout of self-loathing Snape had gone into when he had found out that he and Lily were related. No doubt he would be just as miserable now.

"Madame Pomfery will be doing her best to research ways to restore what has been lost. However, I'm afraid that with no way of knowing how the amnesia has come on, there is a chance his memory may never return." Dumbledore sighed audibly; he rubbed his brow, as if what he had to say next were particularly difficult. "I think it is best, Miss Weasley, that while Professor Snape recovers, he be allowed to do so alone."

Ginny nodded again, her eyes welling with tears. _Don't cry!_ She admonished herself. _He has a perfectly reasonable point!_

Why would Severus want her hanging around, worrying about him? All the time they had spent together was gone, lost, possibly forever. He wouldn't recognize her if he tripped over her.

"I'll," She sniffed. "I'll just be going to b-bed, then. G-good n-night, sir." Then she bolted from the room before Dumbledore could see the tears streaming down her face.

"Good night Miss Weasley." Dumbledore said kindly to the empty room, then he too set off for bed.

* * *

**A/N: yay! A new chapter! Many thanks to Masterdeeds, my magnificent beta! Your input is priceless.**

**Hope you all enjoy, now we can get back to the good stuff! INTERACTION! No more filler of being missing, YAY!**

**Just a side note, I have another story started, if you wanna check out the prologue, you can find it from my profile, it's called 'Knight of Phoenix.' It will most likely be very slow moving but I think it will turn out much better than this story, since I started this in high school. Much better indeed.**

**Thanks for reading.**

**I will be forever indebted if you review!**


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